


The Hogwarts Alliance: Part 1- Oriens

by Whisperinthewoods (Acemagmagrunt)



Series: The Hogwarts Alliance [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: ...sort of, A lot of these tags only apply to the sequel, BAMF Ginny Weasley, Dark Magic isn't always bad, F/F, F/M, Independent Golden Trio, Independent Harry, M/M, Manipulative-but-well-meaning Dumbledore, Misguided Dumbledore, Ratings and warnings may change, Sane Voldemort, This story isn't about the relationships, free Sirius
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2018-10-29 14:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 28,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10856103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acemagmagrunt/pseuds/Whisperinthewoods
Summary: Things are brewing in the Wizarding World. Voldemort is back, more powerful than ever before, and Fudge refuses to believe it. Umbridge is crushing any chance the students of Hogwarts may have had to get a decent Defense education. The students, who see things the adults do not, have decided to take things into their own hands.Will the Golden Trio and their friends manage to solve the mystery or Harry's dreams? Will they manage to defend themselves against Voldemort, the Death Eaters, Fudge, and even those they thought were friends? Or will they die trying?





	1. Prologue- Lord Voldemort

**Author's Note:**

> This is the new version of The Alliance. As of right now, I've finished writing Part 1 of this story, and after all of these chapters are posted, there will be no updates until I finish Part 2. There will be updates every Monday and Thursday. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

**~Lord Voldemort~**

**~Tuesday, October 31, 1995, 11:30 pm~**

**~Location Unknown~**

 

Something was off. Voldemort had been aware of this strange _offness_ in his mind since the moment his new body was formed.

 

Maybe it was nothing. It could have been the result of the new body; after all, his brain was not the exact same one he was born with, though it had the same capabilities. Logically, this was certainly the explanation for whatever it was that Voldemort had been wary about.

 

It wasn’t enough. With the continued existence of Dumbledore, of the Light, of that infuriating _boy,_ the logic that might have once comforted Voldemort did nothing for him now.

 

_The boy._ The Prophecy child, the only one would could ever defeat him. Perhaps… this _offness_ had something to do with him. Maybe his paranoia was justified. After all, Voldemort had discovered their mind link several weeks ago, and had put his strongest Occlumency shields up around the door to Potter’s mind. Better to be cautious and use the extra magic than to have something slip.

 

Whatever is was, the change in Voldemort’s mind, no matter how slight, put him on edge. That ever-present emotion, when thinking about his own death, (He refused to admit it was fear. The Dark Lord feared nothing) began to rear its ugly head in the back of his awareness.

 

_Death._ Voldemort unconsciously shivered. Perhaps he should check on his Horcruxes. Yes, he hadn’t done so in far too long. The old man was sure to poke his nose around in Voldemort’s past life, and there could be no risk of him finding something. In hindsight, a few of his locations would be… obvious, to a person who knew too much.

 

With that thought, Voldemort stood from his chair and apparated.

  
Far away, inside a castle in Scotland, a boy woke with a start.


	2. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who reviewed, for your support! I really hop I don't disappoint. Anyways, I've decided to post two chapters because they're both pretty short- I promise they'll get longer soon, though. Enjoy!

**~Harry~**

**~Wednesday, November 1, 1995, 7:30 am~**

**~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland~**

 

“Are you  _ sure _ that’s what you heard?” 

 

“Yeah, Hermione, I remember it perfectly,” 

 

Hermione frowned. “I thought you said that you never remembered what Voldemort was thinking,”

 

Harry shrugged, confused. “I think this one was different. Dunno why,”

 

Ron, who was sitting across from Harry and Hermione in the Great Hall, grunted. Both of his best friends took this to mean that he had something to say, waited from him to swallow the over-large bite of food in his mouth. 

 

“But you said ‘e wasn’t doing anything else, right? So maybe that’s why. You had nothin’ else to focus on,” Ron said as he heaped more eggs onto his plate. 

 

Hermione looked surprised. “That’s a very good point, Ron,” 

 

Ron glared at her with little heat; he knew Hermione hadn’t expected him to say something insightful, but Harry knew he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed with her over that. 

 

Hermione sighed, snapping her copy of  _ Charms: A Guide to All-Purpose Spells  _ shut sharply. “Well, it doesn’t really matter either way. With what we know we can’t make much sense of what V-V- You-Know-Who was thinking. I’ve never even heard of Occlumency or Horcruxes before,” She ended in a lower whisper than the one she was talking about before. 

 

“It’s important,” Harry said immediately, “I don’t know why, but it is. He was really… concerned, I guess, when he was thinking about it,”

 

Harry had that feeling again. He had had it with the Stone, with the Diary, with Scabbers and Sirius, and with Barty Crouch Sr.. He knew he was right, his instinct always was.

 

Ron screwed up his face. Hermione had opened her mouth to respond to Harry, but Ron got there first and said, “Wait, I think I’ve heard of Occul-whatever-it-is. Dad mentioned it once,” 

 

“Really? What is it?” Hermione asked eagerly. Harry looked at Ron with a similar look of intense curiosity. 

 

Ron’s ears went bright red. “Er... I don’t really remember. But I remember Dad saying that You-Know-Who could use Lenimency, or something like that, and that Snape was the only one who could spy on him, ‘cause he was good enough at Occy-whatever to keep You-Know-Who out,” 

 

Hermione huffed, clearly annoyed and disappointed. “Well, at least we know Occulmency’s probably not a Dark Art then,” She said, a little optimism bleeding into her voice. 

 

Harry blinked, “So?” 

 

“Oh, honestly,” Hermione rolled her eyes, “If it’s not a Dark Art, we could probably find something on it in the library!” 

 

Harry immediately felt a sense of foreboding, as he always did when Hermione said something like this; hopefully, this time, though, the search wouldn’t be as grueling as the time they were looking for Nicolas Flamel. 

 

Ron groaned, his thoughts probably matching Harry’s. 

 

“It’s important!” Hermione said vehemently, as if she had read their minds, “If Occlumency helps Snape defend against whatever You-Know-Who does to figure who's spying on him, then it can hardly be an awful thing to learn how to do!” 

 

“Yeah, right,” Harry sighed. He knew Hermione was right, she always was, but between Umbridge, homework and the visions, he already had more than enough on his plate. 

 

“Weird, though, innit?” Ron asked in a low, conspiring tone. 

 

“What?” Harry turned to Ron with confusion written across his face. 

 

“Well, from what you said, You-Know-Who it sounds like counts you as the same kinda threat as Dumbledore,” Ron said, scrunching his eyebrows together, “I mean, no offense, Harry, but you're not exactly Merlin,” 

 

Harry had raised his eyebrows. He was just realizing that… and there was one more thing…

 

“I think he referred to me as ‘the prophecy child’,” He said, frowning a little.

 

Hermione frowned as well, while Ron stared at Harry with wide eyes.

 

“Harry, that's bad. Really bad. If-” Ron began, but was interrupted by Hermione.

 

“I think we should talk about this later,” She said abruptly, “I'm going to go to the library after class to start looking into some of this,”

 

“Er… alright?” Harry said, watching with confusion as Hermione tucked her book into her bag and left to her Arithmancy class with a short word of farewell.

 

Harry and Ron shrugged at each other, then departed to class themselves with not another word on the subject. 


	3. Ginny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter I've uploaded today- if you haven't read the last one, make sure you do that first.

**~Ginny~**

**~Wednesday, November 1, 1995, 3:30 pm~**

**~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

Ginny Weasley was a strong girl. After the ordeal in her first year, she had dedicated herself to becoming one. 

 

She held a certain pride in her ability to read people, which she had carefully cultivated into a skill she used almost unconsciously every day. And because of this, over the last several years, she had come to a confusing, worrying conclusion about the nature of her headmaster; Dumbledore was hiding something. Something big. And it was about Harry, she was certain. 

 

After her ordeal with Tom Riddle, she questioned every little action of every person around her. She refused to be deceived and used again. It may not have been directed at her, but nevertheless she had noticed the careful, calculating glances Dumbledore shot at Harry at nearly every meal, and Ginny was  _ scared.  _ For Harry. Those glances were not from a concerned headmaster worried over the student with a price on his head, they were the careful deliberations of a chess master wondering if he should sacrifice his pawn.

 

Ginny couldn’t decide what was worse; the way Dumbledore had started looking at Harry with that look, more and more intensely everyday, or that some of the Order members stared at the Boy-Who-Lived in the exact same way. 

 

She couldn’t stand the Order, or more specifically, their secrets. They couldn’t know what was going on because they were  _ children  _ and  _ too young to be involved in a war.  _

 

What a load of bullshit. 

 

If anyone should know about what Voldemort was doing, it should be Harry. Voldemort wanted Harry  _ dead  _ more than any other person, for Merlin’s sake. How was he supposed to keep himself safe if he didn’t even know what Voldemort was doing in the first place? 

 

Ginny growled and stood, sweeping out of the Gryffindor Common Room with a purpose. She had people to talk to. 

 

\-----

 

“...She's a tyrant,” Susan Bones huffed lowly, a small stomp to her gait as she walked beside Ginny. “It's absolutely absurd, what she's doing. Just because she thinks that You-Know-Who isn't out there doesn't mean that there aren't other people with bad intentions!” 

 

“Do you think he's back?” Ginny asked, her lazy posture as she flopped down under a tree, a completely opposite to the serious tone of her voice. 

 

Susan stopped and stared at Ginny for a long moment. Then she settled down next to Ginny, with considerably more grace than the redhead. 

 

“I wish it weren't so,” she whispered in a lost voice, “He killed my parents, you know. I… I wouldn't-” she took a deep breath, “I would never lie about him returning just for attention. And I don't think Potter would either,” 

 

“Does your aunt think the same?” Ginny asked quietly, staring straight into Susan’s honey brown eyes. Susan just nodded, a curious glint to her eyes. 

 

“Good. Listen, Susan,” Ginny said briskly, ignoring Susan's tiny jump at her sudden change of tone, “Do you know about the Order of the Phoenix?” 

 

“Yes, of course, my parents were a part of it,” Susan answered confusedly, “Auntie never joined, but she knew quite a bit about it,” 

 

“My parents are members too, but that’s not why I’m asking,” Ginny said quickly. She quickly told Susan about Sirius’ situation. 

 

Susan was quiet for a long she moment, and Ginny felt fear flash through her at the possibility of Susan not believing her. If Susan wasn’t on her side, then Ginny could have just put Sirius in very real danger.

“I-I don’t even know what to say,” The usually cheerful Hufflepuff whispered disgustedly, “Auntie always said Crouch made some big mistakes, but… Merlin, 12 years in Azkaban…”

 

“Yeah, it’s awful,” Ginny agreed, relieved, “And Fudge didn't believe Harry, Ron and Hermione when they told him. He refused to even listen to them,”

 

“I think that's the worst part!” Susan said heatedly, “He could have taken memories! And even if Black was guilty, he certainly should have received a trial! Merlin, an innocent man was nearly  _ Kissed _ and Auntie probably doesn't even know!” 

 

“You think she doesn't know?” Ginny asked, surprised.

 

“I think she hardly could have! Auntie would have  _ never  _ sentenced  _ anyone  _ to the Dementor’s Kiss without a trial!” Susan said vehemently, and then, in a softer tone, she said, “Is there anyway I can get a memory of what happened that night? To send it to Auntie? She'd make it priority, to fix such an awful miscarriage of justice,” 

 

That was what Ginny had been hoping for. “Yeah, Harry’ll do anything to clear Sirius’ name. I can get him to give the memory,” 

 

Susan smiled at Ginny, the emotions in her eyes warring between friendliness towards Ginny and upset about Sirius’ case. They had only been friends for a short time- Ginny had comforted her after she had found Susan sobbing over Cedric’s death- but they got on really well. 

 

“Can you meet me here on Friday? I'll bring Harry here, so you can take the memory,” 

 

“Alright, Ginny,” Susan agreed, standing up, “Friday it is,” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided I really like Susan Bones' character, so I'm including her in this fic. Plus, Hufflepuff doesn't have the strong characters in deserves. Hope you like her. 
> 
> Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome!


	4. Daphne and Hermione

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chap! Not exactly sure I'm happy with the end of this one, but I hope you like it!

**~Daphne~**

**~Wednesday, November 1, 1995, 9:00 pm~**

**~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scottish Highlands~**

 

Daphne Greengrass was the kind of girl many would call a ‘frigid bitch’.

 

That wasn’t the case, not really; Daphne cared for her little sister, and for those she felt deserved her attention. Although, admittedly, there weren’t many she considered worthy.

 

Daphne knew she was jaded. It was hardly her fault, though, as she had grown up as a pureblood heiress with a father who would eternally wish she were male.

 

 _The Pureblood Name._ By Merlin, Morgana, and every other Lord and Lady after them, she hated it. She hated the whiny brats who thought themselves superior just because they could count their ancestry back a few more generations, or had more zeros in their bank statement.

 

And one of said whiny brats, Draco Malfoy, had his eyes on her sister. Astoria was mostly oblivious, bless her, but Daphne vowed at a young age that she would never let her parents sell her or her sister to some snobbish pureblood lord like cattle. She had come to the conclusion that she had to make sure the Light won and the Dark Lord was destroyed if she was going to do that. Then, her father would be arrested for participating in Death Eater activities; he wasn’t a marked Death Eater, but he had enough dealings with them that if Daphne pulled the right strings, he’d be in Azkaban for life. And since the Greengrass family had no male heir, Daphne would become the Lady Greengrass, the head of her family, and the only one who could approve a marriage contract.   

 

Daphne was a true Slytherin, unlike many of her housemates (how the likes of Crabbe and Goyle ever got into the house of the cunning and discrete, she’ll never know), so she knew instantly that Potter wasn’t lying about the Dark Lord’s return. Fudge was an idiot at best, in her opinion, but she still couldn’t believe that he refused to even acknowledge the evidence.

 

And then there was Umbridge. Daphne was beyond furious at both her and Fudge for her defense classes this year. The nerve of them, to think that just because the Dark Lord wasn’t active-

 

“Daffy?” A soft voice penetrated Daphne’s furious mental rant. Daphne smiled at her younger sister, but quickly noticed something was wrong. Her eyes narrowed when she had remembered that Astoria had had a detention with Umbridge that night, just because she had asked which spells they would be learning that year.

 

“Is something wrong, Astoria?” She asked, and became extremely concerned when Astoria’s head dropped, a small sob shaking her small frame. A moment passed in silence before the third year slowly pulled her left hand away from where it had been clasped over her right.

 

Daphne felt fury slam into her so quickly she was nearly breathless from it. There, craved onto Astoria’s delicate hand, was a fresh, bloody wound that could only have been made by a Blood Quill.

 

 _I must respect my superiors._ Daphne felt sick.

 

“Who did this to you?” Daphne questioned harshly, holding Astoria’s injured hand gently in both of her’s, “Tell me who did it, Astoria, and I promise they won’t get away with it,”

 

“Y-Yes she will,” Astoria said quietly, as she lifted her head to look Daphne in the eye. There were no traces of tears in her eyes, at there would have been just last year. Daphne felt a surge of pride; her sister was growing up.

 

“Astoria, this is illegal, if Dumble-” Daphne started.

 

“E-even if Dumbledore knew, he couldn’t do anything,” Astoria kept her voice down, wary of her housemates hearing what could be taken as trust in Dumbledore, an almost universal taboo in Slytherin, “It was P-professor Umbridge, Daffy,”

 

The bile in Daphne’s throat rose higher at that. A Professor using a _Blood Quill,_ a torture device, on a third year student who had done almost nothing wrong…

 

It looked as though Daphne needed to execute her first plans earlier than she had thought. She would _not_ let Umbridge get away with this.

 

 

**~Hermione~**

**~Thursday, November 2, 1995, 10:00 pm~**

**~Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“Hours of looking, and we having nothing!” Hermione growled, extremely vexed, “Not a single word about any of it!”

 

“This had better not turn into another bloody Nicholas Flamel, Hermione,” Ron threatened as he flopped down one of the many plush couches in the Gryffindor Common Room. “I can’t do that again, I’ll die of boredom,”

 

Hermione rolled her eyes, sitting down next to him, “It’s strange, though,” she said, “The archive search spell gave us _nothing_. So there’s absolutely nothing on any of these subjects in the library, not even a single mention of Horcruxes or Occlumency,”

 

Harry hummed, looking down at his lap. Ron groaned, glaring at Hermione slightly as he said, “Remind me again why we didn’t use that spell First Year?” Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes at him; she’d answered this question a dozen times since the trio had arrived at the library, and Hermione had told him each time that she hadn’t known about the spell until their third year.

 

Harry twitched in his seat, rubbing his scar for a brief second before pulling his hand down quickly, but he wasn’t fast enough to escape Hermione’s notice.

 

“What’s wrong, Harry? Is it your scar?” She asked quickly. Ron’s head shot up to focus on solely on Harry, his previous woes completely forgotten.

 

Harry flushed a little, like he always did, and kept his eyes firmly on his hands. “He’s worried about something,” He said quietly, “Angry, too. It’s… it’s paranoia, I think, but it’s more intense than anything I’ve felt before,”

 

“Think it has to do with your dream last night?” Ron asked. Harry nodded.

 

“I keep get flashes of thoughts,” Harry confessed, looking up. Hermione could easily see that he was confused, worried, and an feeling an amalgam of emotions she couldn’t possibly begin to understand, and she knew that Harry probably couldn’t either.

 

“Most are nothing, but… he keep thinking about the Department of Mysteries,” Harry continued, a frustrated scowl working its way across his face, “I _know_ I’ve heard that name before, but I don’t know where,”

 

“Me too,” Hermione said, sitting up and frowning, Ron nodding along with her, “Damn! What is it?!” She said, pressing a hand to her forehead. Harry and Ron stared at her, likely shocked that the usually polite bookworm had sworn. Well, she was hardly the stuck-up first year she had once been, so they had better just get used to it.

 

“I know what the Department of Mysteries is!” A voice said from behind them. The trio jumped, and turned to face the newcomer.  

 

The boy scratched his head, looking awkward and shy as ever, “Er, I’m sorry, but I overheard…”

  
(When Hermione went to bed that night, she knew that somehow, everything had changed.)      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review! Constructive criticism is welcomed!


	5. Neville and Susan

**~Neville~**

**~Thursday, November 2, 1995, 10:30 pm~**

**~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scottish Highlands~**

 

“... he keeps thinking about the Department of Mysteries,” 

 

Neville froze almost against his will. He knew they were talking about You-Know-Who, just from Harry’s tone. 

 

“Damn! What is it?!” Hermione exclaimed, a moment later.

 

Neville got over the shock of Hermione swearing faster than Harry and Ron appeared to. He knew what the Department of Mysteries was, since his Gran used to be an Unspeakable, and without thinking, he blurted, “I know what the Department of Mysteries is!”

 

Neville felt his face erupt in flames when the trio turned to face him, surprise written across each of their faces. Awkwardly, he stammered out, “Er, I’m sorry, but I overheard…” He was fully prepared to be told off, shooed away like he always was by his family, but Hermione and Ron only grinned at him, and Neville saw that Harry tried to as well, but it came out as more of a grimace. Neville didn’t care much about that; he knew Harry liked him well enough. 

 

“No, it’s fine, Neville,” Hermione said reassuringly. She waved a hand at the chair next to her, then said, “We don’t mind, you’re our friend. You said you knew about the Department of Mysteries?” 

 

Neville felt a surge of happiness when Hermione claimed him as their friend. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of being accepted by his housemates, even if he didn’t speak to them much. “Yeah, I do. Gran used to work there,” He said as he sat in the armchair next to Harry’s. The Boy-Who-Lived was staring at Neville with an intensity that would have scared him if he hadn’t seen the same look during the TriWizard Tournament; the fire in his eyes was only a determination to overcome what was being thrown at him. 

 

“Really? It’s a department in the Ministry, right? What do they do there?” Hermione asked perking up. She had that eager passion in her eyes, the same one she got when she learned something new in class. 

 

Neville nodded and admitted, “Well… It’s all secret, see. I don’t know much myself, except for the generalities. The Department of Mysteries does magical experiments- mostly they test and approve new spells and study ancient magical artifacts,” 

 

“Whoa,” Ron muttered, staring at Neville, “Maybe You-Know-Who’s after one of those artifacts,” 

 

Harry glared at Ron, and Hermione just sighed as Neville looked at Ron curiously. 

 

“Do you know what kinds of magical artifacts they study?” Hermione asked, glancing at Harry. Neville swallowed the question burning in the back of his throat, and prepared to answer.  

 

“Voldemort’s after something there,” Harry said suddenly, with a sigh, “He’s really focused on it, but I haven’t any idea what it could be,” 

 

Neville jumped at the name, and decided to ignore the little squeak that escaped him. Ron had also flinched a little, far less than Neville had, and he glared a little at Harry. 

 

Neville thought back to everything his Gran had told him, which was he had to admit, wasn’t very much.  _ Time Turners… effects of wand cores…  _

 

“I can’t really connect anything Gran’s mentioned to me with You-Know-Who,” He finally said, screwing up his face in thoughtfulness, “Gran’s told me that she personally studied to properties of Time-Turners and wand cores, and tested new spells… Oh, and I think she mentioned something about a friend working in a place called the ‘Hall of Prophecy’,”

 

Hermione sat bolt upright, and so did Harry. Ron didn’t move from his relaxed pose, but his eyes widened. 

 

“Wait, Harry, your other dream!” He exclaimed, so loudly that a few other Gryffindors across the Common Room turned towards them. 

 

“Keep it down, Ronald!” Hermione hissed. 

 

“Am I missing something?” Neville asked faintly, then internally cursed himself. They’d probably never tell him, and he would just look like a fool.  _ I always do,  _ he mentally grimaced. 

 

“You can’t tell anyone, Neville,” Harry said lowly. Neville, extremely surprised, nodded instantly. 

 

“I had a dream a few nights ago,” Harry continued, and Neville knew the dream had to be one of the visions he got from You-Know-Who, “And I heard what he was thinking. He was…  _ worrying,  _ I guess, about something he has called Horcruxes. I’m pretty sure he was worrying about me of Dumbledore finding them. And, the weird thing was, I think he referred to me as  _ The Prophecy Child,”  _ __

 

Neville scrunched his brow. “That’s… That’s not good, Harry. That’s really not good,” 

 

“That’s what I wa trying to say!” Ron whisper-exclaimed, “Harry, if there’s a Prophecy about you, you need to hear it,” 

 

“I agree,” Hermione stated calmly. Neville raised an incredulous brow at her, recalling how she had shouted at Trelawney and stormed out of the Divination classroom during their third year. Hermione huffed. “Well, I was thinking, and this could be the reason V-Vol- You-Know-Who is after you, Harry!”

 

Neville knew instantly that Harry had drawn something from Hermione’s statement that he had not. He was suddenly sitting rigidly, in a way Neville had only seen him in the weeks after Cedric’s death, his eyes unseeing as if he were lost in memory. Hermione had obviously also seen that something was wrong, because she moved to sit on the arm of Harry’s chair and pulled him into a sideways hug.   

 

“He told my mum to move,” Harry finally croaked several minutes later. Ron suddenly looked ashen. “The dementors… they made me remember…” 

 

Neville felt a wave of empathy overcome him. The dementors made him remember his parents too, and what the Lestranges had done to them… 

 

_ Don’t think about it now,  _ Neville told himself harshly as tears began to form in his eyes,  _ Not now, not now.  _

 

“He told my mum to step aside…” Harry shuddered again, “He… He wasn’t after my parents. He was after me,” 

 

Silence. Neville had no idea what to say. He had always felt what Harry was feeling right now, because he had always know Lestrange was after  _ him _ , but to have that realization all at once, without warning… 

 

“I… Harry,” Neville spoke up, cautiously, “I… If you want, I’ll help you find your Prophecy. Gran still has friends in the Department, she can find a way get us in,” 

 

Harry looked up at him, and stared for a long few moments. Neville was surprised when he successfully fought the urge to fidget. 

 

“Thanks, Neville,” Harry smiled weakly, “If you’re really okay with it…” 

\-----

 

**~Susan~**

**~Friday, November 3, 1995, 4:00 pm~**

**~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scottish Highlands~**

 

_ Dearest Susan,  _

 

_ I must admit I am greatly concerned about the contents of your last letter. And that was a very clever way of sending it, Susan- I’m proud of you.  _

 

_ As for the matter of Sirius Black, I must say that the story Miss Weasley told you is certainly feasible. I have seen may Death Eaters do desperate things to avoid imprisonment, and the idea of Pettigrew cutting off his own finger and then transforming into a rat is far from the strangest thing I have ever heard.  _

 

_ If it is indeed true, then you are absolutely correct in your assessment that Sirius Black’s case would be one of the most serious miscarriages of justice by the British Ministry in over a century. I have confirmed that Sirius Black indeed had no trial at all, and I am appalled at both Bartemius Crouch and Minister Fudge for their hasty, careless actions regarding this case, and that the testimony of three witnesses, regardless of age, were ignored is unforgivable.  _

 

_ I would ask you to go ahead and retrieve Mr. Potter’s memory of the event that occurred in 1994. If it is at all possible, then I also ask that you request a method of communication with Mr. Black from Mr. Potter. Do not worry if it is impossible; I can do my job without it.  _

 

_ Send the memory in the attached box. Be careful, for once you open the box and then close it once, the box can only be reopened by myself.  _

 

_ I hope you are doing well, Susan. Best of luck with your O.W.L classes this year. I know you will do excellently.  _

 

_ With love,  _

 

_ Auntie Amelia _

 

Susan smiled as she tucked her aunt’s letter in her bag. She was excited, she had to admit; she had always wanted to follow in her aunt’s footsteps, and being involved in Sirius Black’s case, especially with what she knew now, lit her veins on fire with a passion she had barely known before. 

 

She had to admit she was also excited to meet Harry Potter. Not because of the Boy-Who-Lived nonsense (she had never taken much to the hysteria surrounding celebrities) but because he had always seemed like a kind person. By all the rights, he had more reason to act like Malfoy than Malfoy did- cocky, arrogant, with the expectation that everyone fall at his feet simply because of his surname. But Harry Potter acted nothing like that, and instead was humble and kind to all who deserved it. That was the kind of person Susan always liked.

 

Susan put on her kindest smile when she approached the tree from Wednesday. It wasn’t fake at all, though; she would never forget the kindness Ginny Weasley had shown her after Cedric’s death. Susan had admired Cedric, and when he died she cried herself half sick. She probably would have never stopped if Ginny hadn’t talked to her, helped her move through her grief. 

 

Ginny smiled widely and hugged Susan once she had arrived, and Potter looked extremely wary. He had light rings under his eyes, as though he hadn’t slept at all the previous night. Although Susan was a little worried by that, she supposed she couldn’t blame him; she was the niece of the Head of the DMLE, the department that had been trying to capture and kill his godfather, the last of his family. She would feel exactly the same if she were in his position. 

 

“Hello, Mr. Potter, I’m Susan Bones,” Susan said, the formality she had picked up on from her aunt bleeding into her tone. Potter redded almost instantly. 

 

“Er, call me Harry,” He said awkwardly as he took her hand. “A-and thanks, for this,”

 

Susan smiled wider. “Harry, it’s my honor. I always wanted to bring justice for those wronged, just like my Auntie. I simply couldn’t ignore such an awful case like this one,” She said passionately, noticing the way Harry had relaxed with her words. She pulled the box out of her bag, along with a small vial. 

 

“Do you know how pensieves work, Harry?” Susan asked absently mindedly as she fiddled with her wand. 

 

“Er, yeah,” Harry said, “But I don’t know how you get the memories in them,” 

 

“There’s a spell,” Ginny said before Susan could, “Susan can do it- all you have to do is really focus on the memory you want her to take. She’ll put the memory in the vial, and send it to Madam Bones, who can present it to the Wizengamot as evidence towards Sirius’ innocence,” 

 

“Right,” Harry nodded, then added hesitantly, “There’s no way Fudge can like, mess with it, right?” 

 

“No,” Susan answered promptly, “I’m going to send it to Auntie in a box only she can open. And even if Fudge did get to it, the pensieves in the DMLE won’t accept memories that have been tampered with, so Auntie would know what had happened,” 

 

Harry looked reassured, hopeful, and Susan couldn’t possibly imagine what this must be like for him. He was about to take his first step in getting his godfather back, legally. 

 

“Alright, Harry,” Susan said with a kind smile as she raised her wand, “Focus on the memory. You’ll feel a bit of fogginess when I extract the memory. It shouldn’t be too bad, but you need to focus on memory despite it,” 

 

Harry nodded and shut his eyes. Susan gave him a moment to prepare, and then pressed the tip of her wand to his temple. She focused, muttering the spell her aunt had taught her so long ago under her breath. Susan didn’t really see the memory, not entirely, but she got blurry little snippets that lasted only a few second each. It was enough to make her angry, though; an emaciated prisoner and her old professor taking a rat from Ron Weasley, a cowering, rodent-like man crawling towards Harry, a werewolf howling as a great black dog tackled it… Hundreds of Dementors… 

 

Susan pulled the tip of her wand away from Harry’s temple as the flashes of memory started again from the beginning. She quickly pushed the silvery clinging to her wand into the vial, stoppered it, and sealing the tiny bottle inside her Auntie’s box. 

 

Harry blinked furiously as he realized she was done, “Did I do it right?” 

 

“Perfectly,” Susan answered, holding up the box, “I’ll send this to Auntie right away,” 

 

“Thank you, Susan,” Harry said, his voice laden with emotion, “This means a lot to me. I’ll repay you in anyway you want me too,” 

 

Normally, Susan would have waved him off and said that she would have done it for anyone, and that it was her duty as a person. But since the summer, since Auntie had told her about Harry’s trial, she’d had one burning question, so she asked, “Is it true you can produce a corporeal Patronus?” 

 

Harry and Ginny both blinked in surprise at the exact same moment. Susan smiled internally. 

 

“Er, yeah, I can,” Harry said, scratching his neck awkwardly, “Why?” 

 

“Can you teach me? I’m not asking for this in exchange for sending the memory; I’ll do that regardless of if you want to teach me or not. But I’d really like to learn,” Susan made sure to say. She didn’t what to make Harry feel like he forced to teach her. 

 

“Er… I… er, well, I’m sure you could find a better teacher than me,” Harry mumbled. Susan was almost taken aback by that; he had driven off 100 Dementors with one Patronus, and he thought she could find someone who was better at it? 

 

“Like who?” Ginny asked almost scathingly, “Umbridge? Or maybe one of the seventh years, who haven’t learned it yet, because of Umbridge?”

 

Harry blushed instantly. He shrugged, then grinned a little, looking at Ginny. “I guess you’re right,” he said, and, meeting Susan’s eyes again, he added, “I can teach you, if you want, Susan,” 

 

“Thank you!” Susan exclaimed, then impulsively hugged him. She pulled back a moment later with a blush; how was it that Harry felt like a friend so quickly? Well, she wasn’t complaining. She loved making friends. 

 

“Make sure you’re not caught by Umbridge though, she’d give you both detentions until you’re on your death beds,” Ginny said amusedly. 

 

“Yeah, right,” Harry laughed, but there was something a little forced about his smile. Susan noted it. 

 

“Great! You can decide where and when is most comfortable, I don’t mind. If you can’t find me, pass the message on through Ginny,” Susan said, a wide smile still plastered across her face. 

 

She hugged Harry again. Something told her in the back of her mind that this was dangerous, getting close to You-Know-Who’s number one target, and that she could be targeted for this. 

  
Something louder told her not to care. That would be what she listened to. No matter what was to come, she would never regret this.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review, constructive criticism is welcome!


	6. Interlude- Amelia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this chapter's more of an Interlude, so I'm making an Interlude- a short chapter in the POV of a character outside of the Hogwarts students- every 5 chapters. I'll upload another chapter today too, because this one's so short

**~Amelia~**

**~Sunday, November 5, 1995, 12:30 pm~**

**~Wizengamot Court, British Ministry of Magic, London~**

 

Amelia Bones was on a warpath. The letter she had received from her niece two days ago had shocked her nearly into immobility. But that had soon given way to absolute fury. If Amelia hadn’t had as much control over her emotions as she did, she would have exploded, at Fudge, at Bagnald, and at every damn idiot who had butchered the case of Sirius Black so badly.

 

And finally, Susan had sent her the memory. As she watched it, Amelia’s fury only grew. She hadn’t agreed with stationing Dementors around the school, but to think that they had nearly kissed two students… It was unbelieveable. 

 

“The Wizengamot of Great Britain, on this day of November the 4th, 1995, has is hereby called to session,” Fudge pronounced from the Chief Warlock’s seat. The Lords and Ladies immediately stopped whispering to each other in order to focus on Fudge.  _ Coward,  _ Amelia couldn’t help but think, glaring at the Minister,  _ your idiocy will kill us all.  _

 

“Lady Amelia Bones, Head of House Bones and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has called this emergency session. Lady Bones, if you could explain the emergency?” Fudge continued, looking at her expectantly. 

 

Amelia stood, and said in her signature booming court voice, “On Saturday, November the 4th, a memory was sent to my office by persons who wish to remain anonymous. The memory concerned the escaped Azkaban prisoner and convicted Death Eater, Sirius Black,” 

 

Whispers immediately filled the courtroom again. Fudge was looking at Amelia as though he had never seen her before. She continued, a little louder, “This memory serves as evidence that Sirius Black was wrongly arrested and imprisoned, and is indeed innocent of every crime to his name,” 

 

The was an uproar. Amelia had never seen such a loss of composure among the pureblood Lords and Ladies. Many were shouting that it couldn’t be possible, that Black was a murderer and a betrayer, and Amelia was about to lose her patience and shout them all down. 

 

Thankfully, before she could do anything stupid, Fudge seemed to regain his composure, and shouted, “Order, order!”, banging his gavel loudly. 

 

“May the Lady Bones elaborate on what she is proposing?” Fudge asked heavily, taking on the look of a winded buffalo. 

 

“I am asking the Wizengamot to view the memory, and should they find it satisfactory evidence against Sirius Black’s convictions, to remove the order to subject him to the Dementor’s Kiss upon capture, and to clear him of all charges, or at the very least, give him the fair trial he has yet to receive,” Amelia said, tilting her head defiantly at Fudge. 

 

It was clear that Fudge was doing his best not to explode in fury. Should Black be found innocent, it would damage his career, and Amelia knew that was the only reason he cared. Well, let him get voted out of office. Britain needed someone competent now more than ever.

 

“The Wizengamot will vote on whether or not to view Lady Bones’ evidence. All those in favor of viewing, say aye, all those opposed, say nay,” Fudge announced, and promptly turned bright red when the court sounded with a near unanimous ‘aye’. 

  
Amelia smirked a little as she made her way down to pour the memory into the pensieve. Finally, justice would be served…           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome!


	7. Ron and Blaise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter posted today, make sure you read 6 first!

**~Ron~**

**~Friday, November 3, 1995, 5:00 pm~**

**~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scottish Highlands~**

 

Ron Weasley was no idiot, despite the general consensus of most around him. He simply didn’t like books and working much. But when it came to Harry and Hermione, and ultimately You-Know-Who, Ron would endure, to protect his friends and family. 

 

And that was why Ron was currently seated in the library next to Hermione, surrounded by books on Divination. With a groan, he slammed shut yet another book that had begun to ramble on about how Tarot Cards were much more reliable than Prophecies. Ron was certain that if absolutely had to pick a subject to research on, Divination had just usurped Alchemy’s position as the last thing he would have chosen. 

 

Hermione seemed to be of a similar attitude. She shut her book with far more care than Ron had, but still in a way that told Ron she was completely and utterly frustrated at the vacuum of information in a way she hadn’t been since Nicholas Flamel. 

 

“This is pointless,” she huffed, “All we’re going to get out of these books is that the prophecies are kept in the Department of Mysteries, and that only the subjects of the prophecy can remove them from their shelves. It’s better than nothing, but…” 

 

“It’s a waste of bloody time,” Ron finished for her. 

 

“Exactly,” Hermione nodded primly, folding her hand in her lap, “I’ll always think Divination is complete cannon-fodder-” 

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ron grumbled, “But You-Know-Who obviously believes in it, Hermione, that’s the problem,” 

 

Hermione slumped back into her chair. Ron knew that meant that she conceded his point. “I think we should wait until Christmas Break to research more about the Hall of Prophecy,” 

 

“Wha?” Ron looked at her, startled. Hermione never put off research like this. 

 

“Well, there’s obviously nothing here,” Hermione grumbled, “And as much as I’d like to keep looking, I think our time could be better used. We need to learn to defend ourselves, more urgently than we need to figure out this prophecy mess,” 

 

“Yeah,” Ron nodded, “But how? Bloody Umbridge isn’t teaching us anything,”

 

Hermione’s nostrils flared at the mention of Umbridge. Venomously, she spat, “ _ She  _ certainly won’t teach us, yes,” Taking a deep breath, she added in a low tone that Ron could barely hear, “I was thinking we need to teach ourselves,” 

 

Ron thought on that for a moment. Yes, it certainly seemed like the only option they had. He could admit they desperately needed the dueling lessons; other than that disastrous duelling club lesson in their second year, they’d had no formal lessons on duelling at all. Ron had to admit that the only Dark curses he knew of were the unforgivables, and surely You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters knew more. They would need to know how to block those spells, at least, if… no,  _ when _ they were attacked. 

 

“Right,” Ron said, “But how?” 

 

“We practice defensive spells,” Hermione explained fervently, “We find them and we practice and practice until we get them just right, and then we practice duelling, against each other. And maybe when we see them, we can ask Lupin or Tonks or Moody to give us pointers…” 

 

“That’s the best shot we’ve got, I think,” Ron grimaced suddenly, “But Umbridge’ll go bloody mental if she catches us,”

 

“If Umbridge catches you at what?” A voice asked from behind the pair. Ron jumped, whipping out his wand on instinct. He relaxed when he saw who it was, and next to him, Hermione let out a quiet sigh of relief.  

 

“Bloody hell, Ginny!” Ron hissed, “You nearly gave me a bloody heart failure!” 

 

Ginny just smirked at him, moving to sit down at Ron and Hermione’s table, Harry right behind her. Ron quickly noticed that he looked much better than last night, something he was immensely relieved by. 

 

“Are you and Hermione finally going to snog, then?” Ginny teased. 

 

Ron felt his entire face and ears explode in red. Harry snickered, and when he chanced a glance at her, Ron saw that Hermione’s cheeks had also begun their best attempt at transfiguring her into a tomato. 

 

“No!” Hermione said heatedly, and Ron was sure she would have shouted it if they weren’t in the library, “I was thinking that we should teach ourselves to fight. I think it’s clear Umbridge won’t teach us a thing, and we’re all close to Harry, so there’s a good chance we’ll be targeted at some point too- No, Harry, we won’t leave you for our safety, we’re in this together,” She snapped when Harry opened his mouth, no doubt to say something along those lines. Harry’s mouth immediately snapped shut, and Hermione huffed in satisfaction before continuing, “And really, the few defensive spells we know now aren’t going to hold off Death Eaters for long. If we’re going to be dragged into this, and if we’re going to come out alive, then we need to know how to duel,” 

 

“I agree,” Ginny said instantly, “We should start now, too, knowing the mountain of bullshit you three always seem to land yourselves in by the end of the year,” 

 

“Language!” Hermione hissed, but Ginny didn’t seem to be at all repentant. 

 

Ron decided to speak up, “But first we need to decide on a place to do this. Like I said, if Umbridge catches us, they’ll have to ship our bodies home in pieces once she’s done with us,” 

 

Harry snorted, but grinned. “Good thing we have the map, then,” 

 

Ron agreed wholeheartedly, “Bloody godsend, that map. I swear, after this year, I might kiss Sirius and Lupin for making it,” 

 

The table burst into quiet, barely contained laughter.

 

**~Blaise~**

**~Friday, November 3, 1995, 5:00 pm~**

**~Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scottish Highlands~**

 

“Zabini, a word,” Daphne Greengrass said the moment she stopped in front of Blaise. Blaise lifted a eyebrow in silent question, but Greengrass didn’t offer him anything except her usual ice cold stare. 

 

Blaise sighed and began to pack up his homework. Greengrass wouldn’t speak to him unless it was about something important, and he was nearly done anyways. Beside him, Draco was giving Greengrass a look of carefully concealed curiosity, a smirk plastered across his face. Greengrass didn’t even spare him a glance. 

 

The moment Blaise stood, Greengrass turned sharply and strode out of the Slytherin Common Room. Blaise, knowing Greengrass wanted him to follow, jogged a little to catch up to her. Greengrass went deeper into the dungeons, towards one of the classrooms that used to be used for potions classes, before Snape became the professor. Greengrass didn’t say a single word to him until she had lead him into a classroom and shut the door, locking and warding it tightly.

 

Blaise eyed the infamous Ice Queen warily, and finally decided to say, “Is there any particular reason you’ve locked us in here, Greengrass?” 

 

“I wish to speak to you, and the things we will likely say are best not overheard,” Greengrass answered cryptically, frustrating Blaise a little, but he was patient.

 

“What is your stance on… current Dark Wizarding affairs?” She asked carefully, barely a few seconds after her previous statement. 

 

Blaise smirked, catching on to her allusion instantly. “I might support the Dark Lord, or I might not, if that’s what you mean. Why, Greengrass? I thought Daddy was in with Fudge. Don’t you agree with the Minister, _Daphne_? How could he be wrong? The Dark Lord _was_ hit by a killing curse,”

 

Blaise was intentionally trying to bait her. He wasn’t stupid, he knew the Dark Lord truly had returned, but he also knew of Gawin Greengrass’s… less than respectable business partners. He didn’t know Greengrass all that well; for all he knew, she could be trying to use him to get an in with the Dark Lord by exposing the child of a Death Eater as ‘unfaithful’. 

 

Well, at least she would be correct about that. 

 

“I don’t have time for games, Zabini,” Greengrass snapped harshly, “You don’t support the Dark Lord; I can see it on your face, every time someone brings him up. And in that, we are of one mind. As long as the Dark Lord lives, my sister’s safety and well-being is threatened, and I will not tolerate it,” 

 

Blaise was surprised by Greengrass’s outburst, he had to admit. Greengrass was infamous for never losing her composure, never dropping her guard; it was what gave her the title of ‘Ice Queen’. 

 

“And, Greengrass? What do you plan to do about it? Kill the Dark Lord yourself?” Blaise rose his eyebrows at her. It was unnerving, the way she stared straight into his eyes without blinking, and he fought to keep himself from looking away. 

 

“No, of course not,” Greengrass rolled her eyes, “I plan on assisting Potter and Dumbledore in their endeavors to do so,”

 

Blaise couldn’t say he hadn’t expected that, but there was the question… “And why are you telling me this?”

 

“Because I know you feel the same way about the Dark Lord,” Greengrass answered, “I don’t know why, but you want him dead. I want to ally myself with Potter, work to expose Death Eaters from the inside. But I can’t do it by myself,” She admitted. Blaise almost laughed; she looked so put out by that fact. 

 

“One certainly can't do it alone, true,” Blaise agreed carefully, “But I doubt two could do it either, Greengrass. We'd be killed before the first day was out,” 

 

He'd practically admitted to wanting to assist her, he knew. But now that he knew Greengrass’ motives, Blaise was confident this was no trick. And, as much as he didn't want to admit it, even to himself, this could be his only way to get in with Potter and free himself of the expectation to take the Dark Mark.

 

“I know that,” Greengrass said with a roll of her eyes. “You're just the first I’m approaching- And frankly, I trust you the most,” 

 

“Who are the others?” Blaise asked curiously. A part of him felt honored at being trusted by Greengrass, but he wanted to know what he was really getting into. 

 

“Theodore Nott, Rebekah Parkinson, and Morrigan Hayes will be first,”

 

Blaise thought for a moment. “Hayes for sure,” he said after a moment, “The only reason Theo wouldn't help you is a risk to his own safety, but he wouldn't sell you out, either. Parkinson is a gamble, but she doesn't like most of the posh purebloods, and she's never been an advocate for Blood Purity, not like Pansy is. She's a great witch, so it’s worth a shot,” 

 

“Yes, that was what I suspected,” Greengrass nodded. “I would appreciate it if you spoke to Hayes. I have never spoken to her, but I know you are acquainted,” 

 

Blaise hesitated for only a split second before saying, “Sure, I'll do it,” 

 

He finally felt  _ free,  _ and by Merlin, he would never let anyone would control him again. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review! Constructive criticism is welcome!


	8. Ginny

**~Ginny~**

**~Monday, November 6, 1995, 11:00 pm~**

**~Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“So, I was thinking,” Ginny started in a low voice as she sat down next to Harry on a plush couch. 

 

Harry glanced up at her, as did Ron and Hermione. “Yeah?” Harry asked, gesturing for her to continue.

 

“Well, you know how you agreed to give Susan lesson on the Patronus?” Ginny asked rhetorically. Hermione’s eyebrows shot up wards and she glanced at Harry even as Ginny continued, “Maybe you should just invite her to these training sessions we'll be doing. I mean, we should eventually learn the Patronus as a group anyways, there's no sense in making you teach it twice,” 

 

“Teaching Susan Bones the Patronus?” Hermione echoed questioningly, staring at Harry.

 

Harry grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, she asked. I figured I owed her, for what she's doing for Sirius,” 

 

Hermione smiled softly in understanding. “Of course, Harry. And from what I've heard of her, she won't sell us out to Umbridge,” 

 

“She hates Umbridge almost as much as Harry does,” Ginny confirmed. 

 

“Neville too,” Rob said suddenly, “He's a friend, and he told us about the Hall of Prophecy,” 

 

“You're right,” Ginny nodded, feeling slightly stupid at not having thought of that herself. “And maybe they know of a good place to practice,” 

 

“Yes, we should ask them!” Hermione exclaimed softly, “If Harry's alright with that,” She added quickly after a look at her friend.

 

“Er… sure, I guess,” Harry muttered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, “I mean, I doubt I'll be as good as you guys are expecting…”

 

Ginny very nearly slapped herself, and  _ him, _ out of frustration. “Merlin’s balls, Harry!” She exclaimed, causing him to whip his head around in surprise, “You could hardly be any worse than Umbridge! Or Lockhart! You have experience, whether you admit it or not, and  _ that’s  _ exactly the kind of teacher I want!” 

 

Harry stared at her, open-mouthed in surprise, and Ginny felt a little smug at that. 

 

“Gin’s right, Harry,” Ron added, “You’re good. Better than Hermione, in Defense,” 

 

“I’m not-” Harry started, glancing at the muggleborn witch. 

 

“Yes, you are, Harry,” Hermione interrupted, “You beat me on our exam in third year- the only year when we had a teacher who actually knew the subject,”’

 

“Alright, alright!” Harry said, a little snappishly, “I’ll do it. Just… just don’t get your hopes up,” 

 

Ginny rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment. 

 

“Where we gonna meet, though?” Ron asked. 

 

“We probably should look over the map-” Hermione began, but she was interrupted by a loud  _ Crack!  _

 

“Wha-?” Ginny started confusedly when she saw the source of the noise- a gangly, strange looking house-elf covered in large, colorful array of human clothing. Thankfully the Common Room was empty, since it was so late, but she cast a silencing ward towards the entrance to the dorms just in case. With a glance at the others, she was  _ very _ confused by the recognition on their faces. 

 

“Dobby!” Ron exclaimed. 

 

“Great Harry Potter, Miss Hermy and Weezys! Dobby is coming to help you!” The elf exclaimed, grinning maniacally, causing Ginny to lift her eyebrows, “Dobby be overhearing your conversation in the library-” 

 

“What?!” Harry exclaimed, eyes wide in panic, “Did anyone else hear?” 

 

“No no, Great Harry Potter, Dobby is making sure no one is hearing!” The elf, Dobby apparently, said excitedly. Ginny felt herself deflating from relief; she hadn’t realized she had become so tense. 

 

“But Dobby is hearing, and Dobby is knowing the perfect place for sirs and misses to practice, where nasty toad woman is not finding them!” Dobby continued. 

 

“Hi, Dobby, I’m Ginny. Where is this place?” Ginny asked. The elf beamed at her, and Ginny felt a warmth wash over her. She already liked this elf a lot. Well, she supposed, the only other elf she’d met was Kreacher, and he wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine. 

 

“An honor to meet you, miss!” Dobby exclaimed, bowing so that his nose touched the floor and several multi-colored, knitted hat tumbled to floor. With a small squeak, Dobby repositioned the hats on his head and continued, “The Come and Go Room, friend of Harry Potter! It is changing to what you is needing it to be, and it is very hard to find!” 

 

“Is that really true, Dobby?” Hermione asked, head cocked to one side a little. She sounded like she doubted Dobby’s claim. Ginny did too; she’d never even heard of such a place before. Surely, at least, it would be at least mentioned in  _ Hogwarts: A History _ ? 

 

“Hang on!” Harry said suddenly, “I think Dumbledore mentioned that once, last year,” 

 

“Really?” Hermione asked excitedly, sounding far less doubtful. 

 

“Professor Dumbly has been visiting the Room before, sirs and misses,” Dobby confirmed with a wide, ecstatic smile. 

 

“Great, Dobby! Where is it?” Ron asked.

“It is being on the 7th floor, sir, across from the painting of the trolls learning to dance,” Dobby said. 

 

Hermione gasped and smiled, “I know where that is!” 

 

“It’s settled, then, we can use it to meet,” Ginny said with a wide grin. She was eager to start practicing, and defying Umbridge. 

 

“Dobby is glad he is being of help, sirs!” Dobby bowed again, and disappeared without another word.                         

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review! Constructive criticism is welcome!


	9. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, my internet was down. Anyways, enjoy!

**~Harry~**

**~Tuesday, November 7, 1995, 4:00 pm~**

**~7th Floor Corridor, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“So there’s a room, that no one knows exists, and can be whatever we want it to be? And you want to use it to practice spells?” Neville asked as he walked alongside Harry. 

 

Harry nodded to confirm. He still couldn’t quite believe it himself, and he was sure he wouldn’t live up to his friends’ expectations, but he would try his best to not disappoint them. 

 

“That’s brilliant,” Neville grinned as they came up on the others, “Hello, Susan!” 

 

“Hi, Neville!” Susan Bones turned from where she was talking to Ginny and came up to hug Neville, “I’m terribly excited, I must admit,” 

 

Harry felt nerves wrack his body at that statement. He tried not to let it show on his face, but Ginny obviously caught it, if the reassuring look she sent him was anything to go by. He didn’t have to dwell on it long, however, since Hermione approached the wall, her eyes screwed shut in concentration. 

 

A second later, a giant double door appeared where there was previously a blank wall. 

 

“Bloody Merlin!” Ron exclaimed. Hermione’s eyes flew open in shock, but she stood there for only a moment before she approached the doors, an excited grin on her face, and pushed them open. 

 

Harry entered the Room cautiously, but burning with curiosity. He couldn’t believe what he saw inside. It was a wide, open room, the size of the Great Hall, done up in light grey, and one wall entirely covered in mirrors. In one corner, on a raised platform, was what appeared to be a reading corner, with plush chairs surrounded by filled bookshelves. The rest of the Room was a flat deuling space, with dummies, cushions, targets, and even some objects Harry recognized as Foe Glass and Secrecy Sensors. 

 

“Merlin, Dobby really wasn’t kidding,” Ginny muttered. 

 

Harry agreed. “This is perfect,” He commented. 

 

Hermione had run over to the bookshelves, to pursue the titles, reading them aloud. She stopped, a bright grin on her face, and went back over to them. 

 

“I could spend days in here,” she said in a tone that was almost a dreamy sigh. Ron snickered, obviously having thought the same thing, and Hermione hit him over the head. 

 

Ginny snickered, and turned to Harry. “So, Harry, what do you think we should learn first?” She asked with a tiny smirk, her hands on her hips. 

 

Harry felt his entire face heat up when all his friends focused on him, looking to him for leadership. He took a deep breath and decided to just let his instinct carry him- that was what they had all said they wanted to be taught by, after all. 

 

“I thought we might start with the Disarming Spell,” He said, watching their eyes light up in different ways, “You know,  _ ‘Expelliarmus’, _ ” 

 

“Have you used it before?” Susan asked seriously. Harry stared straight into her eyes, a lump forming in his throat. 

 

“Last year. After- when I was duelling Voldemort,” Harry answered, not able to say ‘after Cedric died’. He still couldn’t bring himself to face it, fully. Thankfully, Susan’s face blossomed in understanding, and she just nodded. 

 

“Hermione- can I demonstrate with you?” Harry asked. Hermione nodded, moving so that her back was to the large cushions against the wall, and drew her wand, pointing it at him. Harry raised his own wand, and shouted, “ _ Expelliarmus!”  _

 

Before Hermione could react, the red spell hit her and her wand flew out of her hand. Harry deftly caught it with one hand. 

 

“Now, that was a regular Disarming,” Harry said, handing Hermione’s wand back to her, “That’s the ‘correct’ way to do it, according to our books. But I’ve found that if you  _ push  _ a little more of your magic into it, you can get even more out of the spell. Hermione?” 

 

Hermione nodded and stepped back in front of the cushion. With a silent apology to the witch, Harry once again shouted,  _ “Expelliarmus!”  _

 

This time, not only did Hermione’s wand fly out of her hand, but she flew backwards to impact the cushion. Harry quickly went over to help her up, disliking the guilt crawling through him immensely. When he quietly said, “Sorry,” however, Hermione just waved him off. 

 

“I've never seen someone do that with  _ Expelliarmus!”  _ Susan said excitedly. 

 

“What do you mean by pushing more magic into the spell, though?” Ginny asked confusedly. Neville nodded along with her question. 

 

“I-I mean, can’t you feel you magic when you cast a spell?” Harry asked, flushing a little. They already couldn’t understand what he was trying to teach them. He knew he’d be bad at this. 

 

“No,” Hermione said, her eyes wide, “I’ve read about that, though. Harry, only  _ really  _ powerful wizards are supposed to be able to do that,” 

 

“I dunno about that,” Harry mumbled, fiddling with his wand self-consciously. 

 

“That can’t be right,” Neville agreed looking shaken and extremely doubtful, “I-I can feel it, too,” 

 

“No, Hermione’s right,” Ron said, staring at Harry and Neville with eyes so wide they looked as though they were about to pop out of his face. “Mum’s told me about that, before. They say Merlin could feel magic, and Dumbledore can do it too,” 

 

“But that can’t be right,” Neville argued, “I’m nearly a squib! I… When I feel my magic, it’s like there’s a wall around it, everytime I try to cast. I’m not powerful, I’m weak,” 

 

“A wall around your magic?” Ginny raised one eyebrow, “Neville, that doesn’t sound like you’re weak, that sounds like something’s blocking your magic,” 

 

“What could be blocking my magic, Ginny?” Neville sounded almost as though he would cry, “Gran had me checked for enchantments before, but none ever came up!” 

 

Neville fidgeted with the wand in his hand, refusing to look at anyone. Something immediately popped into Harry’s mind, and he had no idea how it had gotten there. It was Ollivander’s words to him, back before his first year.  _ The wand chooses the wizard…  _

 

“Neville, is that your wand?” Harry asked. Everyone in the room looked at him confusedly. 

 

“Er… yeah, Harry. I’ve had it since I was eleven,” Neville answered. Suddenly, Susan’s face lit up in understanding.

 

“But did it  _ choose  _ you? Did you go into Ollivander’s and buy it?” She asked. Neville furrowed his brow. 

 

“No. It was my dad’s wand. Gran gave it to me,” He said, then mumbled so low that Harry barely caught it, “Said it would be an honor for me to use it,” 

 

“That’s why, then,” Harry said instantly, “ _ The wand chooses the wizard…  _ That’s what Ollivander said. And if a wand hasn’t chosen you, then it won’t work as well as it should,” 

 

“That must be it, Neville! You  _ are  _ a powerful wizard, you’ve just got the wrong wand!” Hermione exclaimed. 

 

“You really think so?” Neville asked, wide-eyed. 

 

“Yeah, Neville,” Ron said, obviously trying to be reassuring, “I can tell you are, you just need to get a new wand!” 

 

Neville’s entire face had turned bright red. After a moment, he said, “But how am I supposed to do that? Gran will never get me a new wand,” 

 

“There’s bound to be a way we can get you a wand, Neville,” Susan said kindly, “And you don’t have to tell your Grandmother if you don’t want to- but I’m sure she’d be supportive if it made you a better wizard,” 

 

“OK, I’ll try,” Neville murmured, staring at the wand in his hand. 

 

“Can we go back to what Harry just did, now?” Ginny asked after a moment of silence, “Because I’d love to be able to do that to a Death Eater,” 

  
Everyone in the room focused on Harry once again, and he felt his face go red, but not as much as before. Now, he felt better in the fact that he had just helped Neville in a real way. Harry couldn’t quite wipe the smile off his face for the rest of the day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review! Constructive Criticism!


	10. Neville and Astoria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay.

**~Neville~**

**~Thursday, November 9, 1995, 1:30 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

Neville was conflicted. On the one hand, all of his… friends, dare he say it, were convinced he wasn’t the closest possible thing to a squib, and further, that he was a _powerful_ wizard. Neville didn’t know about that last part, but he had to admit he was hopeful. He supposed it did make sense, and he had tried and failed to not get overly optimistic in the face of being at least a decent wizard.

 

“Hello, Neville!” Susan greeted as he stepped into the Room of Requirement, running up to him and hugging him tightly. Neville was glad he had met Susan. She was such a warm person, and he could tell she wasn’t just tolerating him because she felt bad for him, like he had always thought his classmates did. 

 

“I’ve gotten Dobby to get this for us,” Ginny said from her place on the couch. In front of her on the huge coffee table was a massive box of wands. “All of these wands were lost by students more than seven years ago. I figure if we can find a good wand for you in here, then it’ll save us the trouble of trying to sneak to Diagon Alley,” 

 

“Right,” Neville said nervously, sitting down next to Ginny. She and Susan were the only ones in the Room with him- The others had classes. Neville hoped beyond anything that he wouldn’t just have the same results with a new wand, but he was glad they weren’t here in case that happened. 

 

“I’m kind of hoping I’ll find something too,” Ginny admitted, pulling out her old, obviously roughed up wand, “This isn’t mine either, it was my Uncle Fabian’s,” 

 

“Oh,” Neville said, feeling slightly relieved that someone else was in the same boat as him. “But how do we tell if a wand’s chosen us?”

 

“You’ll feel it,” Susan said, “It’ll just feel  _ right.  _ Plus, the wand usually has a reaction,” 

 

“OK,” Neville nodded, and picked up a wand. Nothing. 

 

It felt like hours had gone by when Ginny finally picked up a shiny, light grey, nearly white wand, and the wand shot out purple and gold sparks. The redhead gasped a little, tightening her grip on the wand. 

 

“Wow, Ginny,” Susan exclaimed, “My wand didn’t have that strong of a reaction,” 

 

“It’s perfect,” Ginny murmured in awe, staring at the wand. 

 

“Mind if I see it?” Susan asked. When Ginny looked up at her in confusion, she quickly added, “Auntie taught me a spell that can detect what a wand’s made of,” 

 

“Oh, sure,” Ginny handed the wand over. Neville watched as Susan muttered a spell, and the wand glowed orange. Neville couldn’t see anything, but Susan obviously could, since she raised an eyebrow. 

 

“What is it?” Ginny asked, concerned. 

 

“Oh, nothing bad,” Susan reassured quickly, “It’s Aspen wood and Hippogriff Feather, 12 and ½ inches. Not an Ollivander wand, since he doesn’t use Hippogriff Feathers,”

 

Ginny hummed in thought, but did not comment, instead handing Neville another wand. It took nearly two hours before Neville finally picked up a wand and felt something he never had before. It was almost as though his magic was singing, and he could feel it course through the long wand in his hand. Neville barely registered the wand glowing brightly for a moment, before settling on a dull glow. 

 

“Whoa,” Ginny said, awestruck, “Neville?” 

 

“It’s… It’s…” Neville swallowed the lump in his throat, wide-eyed, “It’s  _ wonderful,”  _

 

“That’s amazing!” Susan exclaimed. Neville grinned widely at her, exhilarated, and handed the wand to her. 

 

“Ivy wood and Unicorn Hair, 13 and ¾ inches,” Susan announced, passing Neville his wand. Neville held it tightly, unable to get over the singing in his veins when he held it, although it was much quieter now.

 

“Try something!” Ginny suggested, “You always had trouble with the color-changing charm, right?” 

 

“Er… yeah,” Neville admitted nervously. 

 

“Try it,” Susan said kindly. 

 

“Er, OK,” Neville said, then pointed his wand at the couch opposite the three. “ _ Colovaria!”  _

 

The couch flashed for a moment, before it changed from Gryffindor red to the same puce color Neville’s Gran had done all of their drapes in. It was as if Neville had always been able to do the spell flawlessly.  

 

_ I will be better now,  _ Neville told himself firmly, grinning like a little kid,  _ I will be a good wizard. I can do it.  _

 

**~Astoria~**

**~Thursday, November 9, 1995, 4:00 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

Astoria Greengrass’ eyes widened and she gasped silently, completely confused and astounded. She had been hiding from Malfoy- He had been increasingly intent on her and Daphne had warned her to stay away from him- When a  _ door  _ appeared on a wall that previously had nothing there. She unconsciously held her breath as three people came through the door, talking and laughing with each other. One of them had bright orange hair, so she was a Weasley, but Astoria didn’t know who any of them were. 

 

Astoria stayed completely still until she was absolutely sure the three were gone. She didn’t allow herself to relax, and quickly glanced around the hallway before stepping out from behind the covered alcove. She quickly scampered over to the wall, where the door had nearly disappeared, and pulled on the handles. The door rematerialized instantly, and opened a little.

 

Shaking with curiosity and a little fear, Astoria stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. Inside was a huge duelling room, almost similar to the one at her house. Astoria looked around curiously, ans her eyes settled on a small, comfortable looking area on a raised dais, which almost looked as though it were a study. 

 

She glanced around the room again, warily, noting that the door had vanished behind her. Then, she walked over to the bookshelves, skimming the titles; They were all on Defense Against the Dark Arts. There were books on Duelling, Warding, and even Healing. One title,  _ Healing Arts of the Wand,  _ caught her attention, and she was about to slide it out of the shelf when she was interrupting. 

  
“Who are you?!” A loud voice shouted. Astoria whirled around in shock, and all the color drained from her face when she saw who it was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome!


	11. Interlude- Sirius

**~Sirius~**

**~Thursday, November 9, 1995, 8:30 pm~**

**~Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London~**

 

“SIRIUS! SIRIUS!” A voice bellowed from the front of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Sirius, who hadn’t been expecting any company, put his bottle down and raised his wand. 

 

Tonks barreled into the kitchen a moment later, knocking into the umbrella stand but for once not caring, completely out of breath and her hair flashing colors. The Auror had a huge grin on her face, larger than Sirius had ever seen before. 

 

“Have… Have you seen the Evening Prophet?” Tonks panted. Sirius frowned. 

 

“No, I’ve stopped reading that piece of bullshit,” He answered. 

 

“Look!” Tonks exclaimed excitedly, shoving the paper into his hands. Sirius felt his heart stop as his mind struggled to take in the enormity of the words in front of him. 

 

**_SIRIUS BLACK: DANGEROUS CRIMINAL OR INNOCENT VICTIM?_ **

 

_ You read right, my readers. Last Sunday, a Wizengamot session of enormous importance was called by no less than Madam Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, herself. The details of the case were not cleared to be released- until now.  _

_ Madam Bones had called the session because she had received a memory from an anonymous source. She had the memory checked for validity, and once she had viewed its shocking contents, she simply had to call a session.  _

_ “It was the most unbelievable thing I had ever seen,” Madam Bones commented, “There it was- sitting on my desk- an indisputable piece of evidence that proved Sirius Black, whom we thought was one of the most dangerous Death Eaters, was innocent of every crime he was imprisoned for,”  _

_ The memory, which I was able to get a copy of, was certainly shocking. As you all know, Sirius Black was briefly captured at Hogwarts before he managed to escape. We all assumed Black had entered the castle to attack Harry Potter, but that was not the case- he was after Peter Pettigrew. Yes, my readers, Peter Pettigrew, the very wizard Sirius Black was convicted of killing. Black was not the one to blow up that Muggle street, Pettigrew was.  _

_ Both Black and Pettigrew were friends of Lily and James Potter. When You-Know-Who went after the couple, they decided to use the Fidelius Charm to protect themselves and their young son- and it was decided that Sirius Black, James Potter’s best man, would be the secret keeper. The Fidelius Charm, my readers, is a powerful piece of magic that conceals a secret in the soul of a secret-keeper. Unless the Secret Keeper willingly gave up the Potters’ location, You-Know-Who could search Godric’s Hollow for an eternity and never find them. But at the last moment, Sirius convinced James that their friendship was too obvious- He was afraid You-Know-Who would search him out and force him to give the information- and suggested Pettigrew, a far less obvious choice. Pettigrew, they did not know was a Death Eater spy, gave You-Know-Who the location.  _

_ After the Potters were killed and You-Know-Who defeated, Black, enraged with grief, chased Pettigrew down. Black cornered him in an alley, and as a diversion, shouted that it was Black who had betrayed the Potters, and then blew up the street. Pettigrew cut his own finger off, and then transformed- he is an unregistered rat animagus. The witnesses and aurors were deceived by Pettigrew, and Black was incarcerated in Azkaban, most horrifically, without a trial. _

_ When Black escaped Azkaban two years, he went after Pettigrew, whom he had recognized in animagus form from a picture in  _ The Daily Prophet.  _ Pettigrew had been posing as a true rat, the pet of a Hogwarts student, Ronald Weasley. Black cornered Pettigrew, and forced him back into human form in front of four witnesses; The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Remus Lupin, and three students, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and none other than Harry Potter himself, who is Black’s godson. Black forced Pettigrew to confess to his crimes, but before they were able to take him to the castle, Pettigrew switched back into rat form and fled. That is the memory Madam Bones was given.   _

_ Based on this evidence, the Wizengamot has declared Sirius Black innocent of all charges, and the Kiss order has been lifted. The Ministry of Magic is calling upon Mr. Black to appear in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement so reparations can be made. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Peter Pettigrew are encouraged to inform the Auror Office immediately.    _

 

“Oh Merlin,” Sirius whispered, “Merlin… REMUS!” He shouted, ignoring Tonks, who was grinning widely, in favor of disturbing his best mate. 

 

“What on earth is going on, Sirius?” Remus asked, concerned, “Why are you both shouting?” 

 

“Look!” Sirius exclaimed, shoving the paper under Remus’ nose. The werewolf quickly read the paper, his expression morphing from concern to pleased shock. 

 

“Sirius, this, this is…” Remus laughed incredulously, “You’re free!” 

 

“No more of this stinking house!” Sirius grinned madly, the spark in his eyes, which had been extinguished by Azkaban, finally returning, “I can… Merlin, I can be Harry’s guardian! He can come to live with me!”

 

“That’s brilliant!” Tonks exclaimed ecstatically, “He doesn’t have to go back to those awful muggles!” 

 

“Yeah… Merlin, Harry… think he was the one to send the memory?” Sirius asked, tilting his head a little. 

 

“It must have been one of those three,” Remus mused, “It definitely wasn’t Severus,” 

 

Sirius and Tonks both snorted, nodding in agreement. Sirius suddenly grinned again and said, “Whoever it was, it doesn’t matter now. Let’s go to the Ministry, so I can finally get out of here!”      __

 


	12. Ron and Daphne

**~Ron~**

**~Thursday, November 9, 1995, 4:00 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

Ron couldn’t keep his shock and exasperated anger in when he saw that girl in the Room that was supposed to be a  _ secret.  _ He felt his ears, and then his entire face, go red, and it only got worse when he saw the Slytherin crest on the girl’s robes. If it had been any other crest their, Ron wouldn’t be nearly as angry as he was. It barely even registered to him that the girl couldn’t be any older than a third year- although, she looked more as though she were in second year. 

 

“Ronald!” Hermione scolded, grabbing his arm to prevent Ron from marching forward. The touched calmed Ron somewhat, even if red still clouded the edges of his sight. But it was enough clarity for Ron to see that the girl was obviously frightened by him; she was shaking, her eyes wide with fear. 

 

“I-I’m sorry,” The Slytherin whispered, “I-I was only l-looking for a place to h-h-hide,” 

 

She was clearly on the verge of tears, and this calmed Ron completely, and made him feel a little guilty. 

 

“It’s OK,” Harry said, “We’re not angry with you, just a little surprised you found this place,” 

 

The Slytherin looked up at Harry, the fear in her eyes fading just a little, to be replaced with curiosity. “What is this p-place, M-Mr. Potter?”

 

“Call me Harry, please. And this is the Room of Requirement,” Harry said gently, moving to place his hand on her shoulder. He dropped it when the girl stiffened. “It’s a room that shapes itself into anything you need,” 

 

“What’s your name?” Hermione asked quietly, as if she were afraid of scaring the girl. She probably was, Ron reflected with and internal cringe. 

 

“Astoria. Astoria G-Greengrass,” She hiccuped. 

 

“I’m sorry, Astoria,” Ron blurted impulsively, “I was just surprised, I guess, and-” 

 

“It’s OK,” Astoria interrupted with a tentative smile, “I know, I could feel it. You didn’t mean to shout,” 

 

“What do you mean, you could feel it?” Hermione asked. Astoria suddenly flushed, looking down at her hands. 

 

“Daphne told me not to tell,” She said, biting her lip, “She said people will use me to their advantage,” 

 

“Is that why you were hiding?” Harry asked. 

 

“And you can tell us, whatever it is, we won’t tell anyone if you don’ want us too,” Ron said, and then added sarcastically, “And they probably wouldn’t believe us, either, since we’re a bunch of idiot glory-hound, delusional enough to believe You-Know-Who came back from the dead,” 

 

Astoria smiled at him and giggled a little. After a moment in which she seemed to fiercely contemplate her options, she finally said, “I don’t want to tell you about my gift, but it w-wasn’t why I was hiding. D-Draco Malfoy,” She whispered the name almost brokenly, “I was hiding from him, b-because Daphne said he want to make me his wife,” 

 

“What?! But you’re…” Ron trailed off in shock. The girl was so tiny, she looked like a child. She shouldn’t have to fear  _ marriage,  _ of all things, now. 

 

“Daphne says they do it on purpose,” Astoria whispered, “So you don’t fight back. A-And Father wants me to be engaged before I take my O.W.Ls, he told me so,” 

 

“That’s disgusting,” Hermione said, a hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. 

 

“Yeah, it is,” Harry said, his eyes hardening. “If you need help, Astoria, you can come to us- and if you want you can tell your sister, too,” 

 

“Thank you,” Astoria breathed, obviously relieved, and Ron felt something warm swell in his chest, “Thank you,”

 

**~Daphne~**

**~Thursday, November 9, 1995, 5:00 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“Daphne! Daphne!” Astoria threw herself at Daphne, grinning like a loon, the moment the elder girl stepped into the Common Room, “I have to tell you something!”

 

“Oh?” Daphne raised an eyebrow playfully, fully expecting another story about some fascinating plant Professor Sprout had told her about- Herbology was certainly Astoria’s favorite class. To her surprise, however, Astoria scowled a little at her. 

 

“No, this is important!” The third year hissed, “And I need to tell you now!” 

 

Now a little concerned, Daphne withdrew her arms from around her sister and let the corners of her mouth tilt downwards into a frown. “Alright, Astoria, let’s talk someplace else,” She said, all too aware of the other Slytherins in to room. The only ones she trusted not to stab her in the back were Blaise- he was her ally- Theodore- he didn’t have the heart for it- and Morrigan Hayes, who would never turn on someone who was openly neutral like her.

 

“OK,” Astoria said, and proceeded to drag Daphne out of the Common Room and into her dorm room. Daphne was once again thankful that Salazar Slytherin was a private person, and made sure his students would have their own rooms rather than the communal dorms the other houses had. She wouldn’t have been able to bear having to share a room with Pansy Parkinson.  

 

Astoria shut the door and locked it, then sat down on her bed, tugging Daphne with her. “Malfoy nearly cornered me again today,” She started, her somber tone completely at odds with the smile still on her face. 

 

Daphne immediately scowled, “Did he-” She started

“No, no, he didn’t even see me,” Astoria waved off her concerns. Daphne felt herself slump a little in relief. 

 

“I hid behind a tapestry on the 7th floor,” Astoria continued, her face now displaying a tiny amount of awe, “And I was about to come out, but then a  _ door  _ appeared on an empty wall. A door, Daph! And...” 

 

Astoria told Daphne the entire story, and at the end, Daphne was torn between happiness at the convenience and mind-numbing shock. She had thought it would be a lot harder to approach Potter and gain his trust, but she wasn’t complaining. 

 

“You didn’t tell them about your ability, did you?” Daphne questioned in concern. Might as well get that out of the way. 

 

“No,” Astoria shook her head, “But I felt like I could! They were so nice to me!” 

 

“Don’t,” Daphne exhaled heavily, “Not yet, anyways. But I want you to take me to this...  _ Room, _ ” 

 

“Sure!” The younger girl exclaimed, “Hermione told me I could go with you anytime I want, but they’ll be there on Saturday morning,” 

 

“We’ll go then,” Daphne smiled, and leaned in to hug her sister. 

 

\---

 

“Morrigan,” Daphne walked up alongside her yearmate, “I want to talk to you,” 

 

The blond girl raised her eyebrows slowly. “Alright, Greengrass,” She said, casting a silencing ward around them. Thankfully, the corridor was empty. 

 

“You are in opposition to the Dark Lord, aren’t you? That’s what this is about?” Morrigan questioned before Daphne could say anything. Daphne’s mouth dropped open for a second before she regained her composure. 

 

“How do you know that?” She questioned harshly. Morrigan smirked a little. 

 

“Relax, Greengrass, no one else knows,” She said, her hazel eyes glinting mischievously, “I’m a natural Legilimens. I’ve actually been waiting for you to approach me,” 

 

“But I’ve been shielding with Occlumency-” Daphne grimaced at the thought of someone else in her mind, and that she had been unaware it was happening. 

 

“You are rather good at it,” Morrigan commented, “But I’ve been practicing Legilimency since before I came to Hogwarts,” 

 

_ Right, Natural Legilimens,  _ Daphne thought,  _ she was born able to do it _ . “Well, then you already know what I intend,” She said, “Do you wish to help me?” 

 

Morrigan stopped walking and turned to face her, her eyes filled with fire, “Of course I do,” She whispered with a murderous undertone, “If it were up to me, the Dark Lord and every person with his awful mark would be burning in hell by now,” 

 

Daphne very nearly cackled. She  _ knew  _ it! Morrigan never let on that she actively wanted to oppose the Dark Lord, but Daphne had always been sure that was the case. And Morrigan was a powerhouse of a witch- the best duellist in the school, she reckoned.  

 

“Lovely, Morrigan,” Daphne’s grin was akin to that of a shark, “I have a meeting with Harry Potter,” She let the shock of that settle over the blond for a moment, before continuing, “And honestly, I want you to be there with me,” 

 

Suddenly, Morrigan was mirroring her grin. She clasped her hand over Daphne’s, and said, “I’ll be with you, Greengrass,”  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	13. Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 is almost done, believe it or not. There's 5 chapters left, after this one. Anyways, this chapter's pretty important, and it's probably my favorite so far. 
> 
> I want to say thank you for all the support! It means a lot to me! I hope you enjoy!

**~Harry~**

**~Saturday, November 11, 1995, 9:00 am~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“Merlin! Sirius is free!” Harry exclaimed happily as he, Ron, Hermione and Neville entered the Room of Requirement to see Susan and Ginny. Harry impulsively hugged Susan, but then quickly pulled away with a red face when Ron snickered loudly. Ginny hit Ron over the head. 

 

“Ow! Ginny, what was that for?” Ron whined. 

 

Ginny smirked. “Being a prat,” 

 

Ron grumbled under his breath and Hermione rolled her eyes as Susan let out a small giggle. 

 

“Er, thank you, Susan,” Harry muttered under his breath, a little red-faced. Susan smiled at him. 

 

“It was the right thing to do,” She said simply. Harry nodded gratefully. 

 

“Can we talk about the Slytherin girl?” Ginny asked, dropping on one of the couches, “How did she find us?” 

 

“She saw you guys leaving after you and Neville got your wands,” Harry answered. Ginny cursed under her breath. 

 

“That was careless of us,” Susan frowned heavily, “It can’t happen again. What if it had been Malfoy?”

 

“Umbridge would have blasted the door down, ‘cause he’d’ve told her,” Ron said, sitting down next to his sister. 

 

Everyone nodded in agreement, laughing a little. Harry said, “Anyways, about the girl- she’s Astoria Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass’ younger sister. She definitely didn’t look like she was trying to spy on us- she was more curious about the room that had appeared out of nowhere,” 

 

“Well, that’s good,” Susan said, relaxing, “From what I know of Daphne Greengrass, she won’t rat us out to Umbridge; I’m fairly sure she hates most of her house,” 

 

“Really?” Hermione asked, arching an eyebrow, “I’ve never seen her even disagree with them,” 

 

“That makes sense, though,” Ron stretched, resting his hands behind his head, “Dad’s said a few things about Marium Greengrass- probably her father- and he’s in with Lucius Malfoy and his lot,” 

 

“So if one of their kids wrote home about Greengrass fighting with them, and then Malfoy told her father, Greengrass could get in real trouble,” Neville finished the thought, “She’s a Slytherin, so she’s probably just keeping her head down,” 

 

Harry had to admit that sounded plausible. And it wasn’t as though Daphne Greengrass enthusiastically interacted with her housemates- from what Harry had seen, she tended to avoid them more often. 

 

“Astoria said her sister had warned her away from Malfoy,” Hermione said, wrinkling her nose, “Because he wanted to  _ marry  _ her, of all things. If Daphne is as protective of her sister as I think she is, then she must dislike Malfoy at least,” 

 

“Right,” Ginny nodded, “So, what now? You said you invited them both to meet us,” 

 

“I did, yes,” Hermione confirmed, “I was thinking that Greengrass is probably the Slytherin we could trust most, out of all of them. And having eyes in Slytherin could be invaluable,”

 

“That’s true, I suppose,” Susan sighed, “I don’t much like the idea of meeting people for what we could  _ use  _ them for, but right now, I think we need to,” 

 

“Yeah, me too,” Ginny agreed, “And if her father were to die, Greengrass would be the head of her house- a member of the Wizengamot,” 

 

Hermione gasped, pressing a hand over her mouth. “I hadn’t even thought of that!” She exclaimed, “Someone in the Wizengamot would be brilliant for collecting information,” 

 

“Yeah, it would be,” Ginny agreed, “We’d get an insight into what Voldemort’s trying to do, as well- anything Lucius Malfoy does will be on his orders,” 

 

“Brilliant,” Ron grinned. 

 

“So we’re all for meeting Greengrass?” Harry asked almost rhetorically, glad that his sudden decision wasn’t met with opposition by everyone. All his friends nodded, and relief flooded his mind. 

 

“Oh!” Neville exclaimed suddenly, “Gran’s written to me about the Hall of Prophecy. She said she can take you, but it would be best if no one knew,” 

 

“Yeah,” Ginny said, “Dumbledore could try to run interference, if he knew,” 

 

Harry blinked in confusion. Had he just heard her right? Surely she had said  _ Fudge,  _ not  _ Dumbledore.  _ Why would Dumbledore try to stop him from hearing the prophecy? 

 

Harry noticed Ginny glaring at him, and he abruptly realized he was staring at her like she had three heads. And he wasn’t the only one, either; Neville’s mouth was open, and Ron looked extremely confused. 

 

“Yes,” Hermione murmured, looking at her hands, which she had folded tightly in her lap. “I think we should talk about that,” 

 

“About what?” Ron demanded, “Why would  _ Dumbledore  _ prevent Harry from hearing the prophecy, when it’s about him and You-Know-Who?”

 

“No, they’re right,” Susan said, frowning, “I mean- If Dumbledore hasn’t told Harry by now- especially after what happened last year- then he must be intentionally hiding it from him,”

 

“But why would he do that?” Neville asked, confused. 

 

“I don’t know,” Ginny sighed, slumping her shoulders a little, “But I don’t think we can trust Dumbledore,  _ at all.  _ Oh, no, I don’t think he wants you dead or anything like that, Harry- But he definitely wants you ignorant,”

 

“I-I don’t know,” Harry muttered, confusion and doubt swirling around in his mind. Could he really not trust his Headmaster, whom he had looked to for guidance since he was eleven?

 

“I just-” Ginny hesitated, “I think it’s all a little odd- every encounter you’ve had with Voldemort since you came to Hogwarts,” 

 

“What?” Hermione asked, confused, “Ginny, you can’t be suggesting…”

 

“I don’t know what I’m suggesting,” Ginny sighed. She had Harry complete attention. “But- Honestly? How could the traps set and checked by Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard alive, be passed by three  _ eleven  _ year olds? And for that matter, how did he not notice Voldemort was possessing one of his teachers? How didn’t he figure out where the Chamber was, and what was in, when three second years did?” She sighed again. 

 

“Merlin,” Ron looked pale, “Gin-” 

 

“You’re right,” Harry said, his eyes wide and face pale. How could this be happening? And during the Chamber incident, Dumbledore was in the school while he was fighting the Basilisk, and all he sent was a hat and his Phoenix? He nearly died! “I-I don’t understand…” 

 

“I don’t either,” Susan looked troubled, “I don’t even know half of what’s happened to you, Harry, but from what I’ve heard, it all sounds really very dangerous, and it also sounds like Dumbledore could have put a stop to it,” 

 

“Yeah,” Ron agreed, “Oh Merlin- what do we do, if we can’t trust Dumbledore?”

 

“Anything we can, to keep Harry safe,” Hermione said, “We need to figure what he’s hiding from us, first,” 

 

“Right,” Ginny said, sitting straight up, a determined expression on her face and a fierce gleam in her eyes, “We need to train, too- and gather allies, starting with Greengrass. Because let’s face it- even if we knew what we were doing, the six of us wouldn’t be able to take on the Death Eaters by ourselves,” 

 

Harry was apprehensive about that, but not because he felt it was a bad idea. It was probably the best shot he had of surviving the upcoming war. But he couldn’t help the curl of nervousness in his gut at the idea of a group of people looking to him as some kind of leader- he knew they would, since that’s what they have always done. 

 

“So you want to build like… an army, Ginny?” Neville asked, a little green-faced, “I mean, that’s what it sounds like,” 

 

“Maybe not an army, exactly,” Ginny said, shaking her head and creasing her eyebrows. 

 

“Like the Order of the Phoenix,” Hermione said, staring at Ginny, “Except more refined, and hopefully bigger too,” 

 

“Right,” Harry said, finding his voice, with a sudden confidence. They’d all have a better chance of surviving, not just him, if they banded together, “We should do it. Maybe we can make a list, of people we should consider asking to help us?”

 

“Yeah, and what kinds of skills they have,” Ron added, “You don’t want to screw up and put a healer in an offensive position, or anything like that, later on,” 

 

Susan and Neville blinked at Ron, but Harry didn’t feel even a spark of surprise; Ron had always been the strategist.

 

Hermione dug into her bag and pulled out a parchment and quill, labeling the top ‘Potential Members’. “Alright… any names?” 

 

“The twins,” Ginny said immediately, “And for their skills… invention and research,” 

 

Hermione copied it down, then said, “I’ll put down Lee Jordan down with them, too… and Lavender and Parvati. They’d make good spies, actually, since they’re known to gossip,” 

 

“Might as well put Padma, too,” Neville said, “Oh, and Morag MacDougal and Eddie Carmichael, both from Ravenclaw- They’re good with Potions and Herbology,” 

 

“Luna Lovegood,” Ginny added, “She’s got the Quibbler- not many read it, but it’s better than nothing, and way too many people underestimate her. Cho Chang, for sure, she’s a fierce opponent when you get on her bad side, and she’ll want to avenge Cedric’s death. Sally-Anne Perks is one of the best student healers in the school, and she’s against Voldemort  _ and _ Dumbledore. And the Creevey brothers, because they might not be powerful, but they’re small and easily go unnoticed, so they could be messengers,” 

 

“You’ve thought about this before,” Hermione observed with a tiny smirk as she copied everything down, “I’d have never thought of the Creevey brothers like that, but I agree. If we show them the secret passages and give them the passwords, they could carry messages between the houses,” 

 

Harry nodded in agreement, thinking hard. “Lisa Turpin, Ravenclaw,” He said, “I don’t know much about her, but she looked really angry at Umbridge, during our first class. Angelina, Katie, and Alicia- They could be good at battle on brooms, if they practice enough. Mandy Brocklehurst, too; I’ve heard she’s studying wards, and she’s neutral,” 

 

Susan smiled, “Hannah Abbott. She’ll be a great dueller if she gets proper lessons. Ernie Macmillian has connections in the Wizengamot, and so does Zacharias Smith, even if he’s a prick. Michael Corner and Terry Boot are decent fighters, and they keep level heads. And I know Anthony Goldstein believes you, and he’s got the second highest marks in the school,” 

 

“Bloody Hell,” Ron muttered, scratching his head. “I mean, that’s a lot of people, but we still haven’t got very many fighters. So… Justin Finch-Fletchley, Dean Thomas, Demelza Robins, Romilda Vane, Natalie McDonald, Laura Madley, and maybe... Rose Zeller, Owen Cauldwell, Sarah Fawcett, Roger Davies, and Orla Quirke? None of them are great, but they’re not terrible either,” 

 

“Brilliant,” Harry said, grinning at his best mate as the tips of his ears turned pink, “They can get better, with time, and we do need the numbers,” 

 

“None of them are going to betray us, either,” Susan added. 

 

“So, we’re finished,” Hermione said, “46 potential members, and maybe more, depending on how the meeting with Greengrass turns out,” 

 

“But how are we going to invite them?” Susan asked, “We can’t just approach them all and ask- there’s too much of a risk the wrong people will over hear, and they could tell Umbridge,” 

 

“We can ask the people we trust the most directly- the twins, Lee, Luna, and Hannah,” Ginny mused, frowning a little, “Hey, actually, I overheard Kingsley telling someone to use encrypting spells on a letter. Maybe we should look into those?” 

 

Hermione stood, and Harry knew instantly what she was doing as she pointed her wand at the bookshelves around them, muttering under her breath. Two of the books began to emit a faint yellow glow, and Hermione pulled them out. 

 

“What was that?” Neville asked. 

 

“A library search spell,” Hermione answered as she cracked one of the books open to the glowing pages, “Here it is!  _ Abscondo  _ conceals the contents of a letter from everyone except the recipient.  _ Responsio  _ picks up different answers and triggers different magic based on that.  _ Alligana Secreto  _ stops the person from speaking about the letter’s contents.  _ Obliviate Nuntius  _ can be used to make the recipient forget the message, and  _ Deleo  _ causes the parchment to crumble into dust,” 

 

“We’ll use that,” Harry said, unconsciously taking command, “Ron, you approach the twins and Lee. Ginny, you go to Luna, and Susan, tell Hannah. Hermione, you and I will work out the message and spells. Neville, I want you to keep looking for people who would be interested in this, and arrange that meeting with your Gran as soon as possible,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome!


	14. Luna and Hermione

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies about the Thursday update. It completely slipped my mind; Finals week is crazy.

**~Luna~**

**~Sunday, November 12, 1995, 11:00 am~**

**~Divination Corridor, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

Luna Lovegood looked up dreamily from the latest edition of  _ The Quibbler  _ to find Ginny Weasley standing in front of her with an almost shark-like smile on her face. Luna wasn’t afraid for herself, however, since she knew Ginny well enough to know that the edges in her smile weren’t directed at her. 

 

“Hey, Luna,” Ginny said, sitting down on the window sill next to her. “What’re you doing up here?”

 

“It’s rather nice here,” Luna answered mildly, “The Pliddywings do tend to avoid high places,”

 

Ginny nodded, not even asking what Plaguewings were when she once would have. Instead she said, “I wanted to ask you something. I, and a few others, want to support Harry Potter as best as we can, against the Ministry and You-Know-Who. Dumbledore wants to keep Harry shut out from information about You-Know-Who, for whatever reason, but that could get him killed. So we’ve decided we can’t really trust him, and we’re forming our own group-” 

 

“Of course I’ll join,” Luna said softly, “Perhaps I can help get rid of the Blibbering Humdingers in Harry’s head. It’s really quite a terrible infestation,”

 

“Right, Luna,” Ginny grinned. Luna smiled back. It was nice to have a friend. 

 

**~Hermione~**

**~Sunday, November 12, 1995, 12:30 am~**

**~Owlery, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“Fred and George are in,” Ron said as he, Harry and Hermione ascended the stairs to the owlery. “They said it’s about bloody time we do something like this,” 

 

“Did you tell them about Dumbledore?” Hermione asked curiously. 

 

“Yeah,” Ron answered, “They never thought about it before, but they say it makes sense,” 

 

“Good,” Hermione said with a firm nod, “It’s better to have them on our side fully than them doubting any of our ideas,” 

 

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, and then said in a lower tone, “I’m talking to Sirius tonight,” 

 

“How?” Ron asked, “I mean, yeah, everyone saw that article, and Sirius is set to go to the Ministry tomorrow, but Umbridge’ll still go mental if she catches you, and she’s monitoring all the fires,”

 

“Wait,” Hermione said, remembering something, “Don’t you have those communication mirrors?” 

 

Harry blinked, then grinned. “Yeah, I completely forgot about those. I’ll call him after dinner,” 

 

“You know, maybe you should tell him about this whole thing,” Hermione said, waving a hand towards the bundle of letters in Harry’s hands, “He wouldn’t tell Dumbledore if you didn’t want him too, and he could help us with our research,” 

 

Harry blinked, “Ok, yeah, I’ll do that,” 

 

“Maybe we should ask him to make more of those mirrors,” Ron suggested, “Could be useful to talk with the others, if we’re in trouble,” 

 

Hermione instantly felt annoyed that she hadn’t thought of that, but pushed it down and responded, “That’s brilliant, Ron,” 

 

Ron’s ears promptly began burning a bright red. Hermione ignored it; he’d been doing that a lot, recently. 

 

“Ginny said Luna’s on board,” Harry commented after a long pause, obviously trying to change the subject, “And I haven’t heard from Susan yet,” 

 

“Neither have I,” Hermione said, “I suppose it is hard for her to talk with us, since Umbridge is monitoring us so closely,” 

 

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “We really do need a way to communicate with each other,” 

 

“We should have more than one,” Hermione added, “Just in case. I actually had an idea, last night. Fake Galleons,”

 

“Wha?” Ron said, confused. Harry looked bemused as well.  

 

“Fake Galleons,” Hermione repeated, “With a master Galleon, that can change the serial number on the side of all the other Galleons in code. They’d burn when the message changed,” 

 

“Like the Dark Mark?” Harry asked, one brow raised. 

 

Hermione felt heat rise to her face. “Y-yes, that is where I got the idea. But obviously it’s better to have the charms burned onto a bit of metal, rather than our members’ skin,” 

 

“Yeah,” Ron agreed, “I mean, I don’t like using the same magic as Death Eaters, but it’s a good way to send messages,” 

 

“Can you make them yourself?” Harry asked. Hermione nodded. 

 

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s just a transfiguration and a Protean charm. They won’t stand up as real Galleon to a shopkeeper or bank, but Umbridge shouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” 

 

“Brill,” Harry said. The trio turned the corner into the owl room. “Right, so we just send these letters off now?” 

 

“Yes,” Hermione answered, “They’ll fly off and then come back, and be let in during breakfast tomorrow,” 

 

“Alright,” Harry said, then picked up the letter on the top of the pile, addressed to  _ Miss Lavender Brown,  _ in charmed handwriting, and attached it to the leg of a rather haughty-looking eagle owl. 

 

\---

 

“I’m having second thoughts about this,” Neville murmured. Hermione nodded, sinking down into the armchair opposite from him. 

 

She, Ron, Neville, Susan, and surprisingly, Luna, were all in the Room of Requirement while Harry and Ginny waited outside to meet Daphne Greengrass, and who ever was with her. And they were all hyper aware of the possibility that that could be Umbridge. 

 

They didn’t need to wait much longer, though, because the next moment, the doors to the Room pushed open and in walked Harry and Ginny, with four newcomers behind them. Astoria was smiling brightly, holding on to her sister’s hand. Daphne, on the other hand, was completely blank-faced. Next to her was Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin in their year, who Hermione had never really paid much attention to, and a completely unfamiliar blond girl, who was smirking. 

 

“Er, guys, this is Astoria’s sister Daphne, Blaise Zabini, and Morrigan Hayes,” Harry introduced awkwardly. 

 

“And we know who you all are,” Morrigan said, smirk widening. 

 

“Let’s get to what we’re all here for, shall we?” Daphne suggested in a bored drawl that would have convinced Hermione that she was utterly indifferent to the results of this meeting, if not for the gleam in her eyes. 

 

“Right,” Ginny said, joining the loose circle that they were standing in. “First off, we want to know why you’re all here. Astoria’s told us her story, and we believe her, but as for the rest of you, we can’t trust you without knowing your intentions,” 

 

The three Slytherins looked extremely uncomfortable, and Hermione mentally berated Ginny for her harshness, even though she understood why the redhead had spoken that way. “You don’t have to give us all the personal details, just the basics, so we can trust you won’t sell us out to anyone,” 

 

“No, you’ll believe us more if we give you the entire story,” Blaise sighed quietly, and Hermione suddenly realized this was the first time she’d ever heard him speak. “I don’t mind much, but… I have never done this before,” 

 

“It’s OK,” Luna said dreamily, “It must be something really terrible, for you to turn your backs on your families,” 

 

“Yeah,” Blaise smiled almost unnoticeably, the corners of his mouth barely tilting up, but he still looked, almost gratefully, at Luna.  

 

“I want the best for Astoria,” Daphne said abruptly, staring Harry straight in the eyes, “Pureblood Lords sell their daughters off to pureblood Heirs, for money. We are nearly worthless to them, since we will not carry on the family name. And, depending on the man we are  _ forced  _ to marry, we may be treated as little more than slaves. I do not want that for myself, and I cannot stand the thought of that happening to Astoria. If the Dark Lord is victorious, or is still alive when we graduate, then it is guaranteed that we will be married off. But if the Dark Lord is killed, and my father dead or imprisoned in Azkaban, then I will be Head of House Greengrass and we will be free,” 

 

“They still do that?” Neville asked, horrified, “I thought that marriage contracts fell out of use  _ centuries  _ ago!” 

 

“Maybe in the Light families, but not in the Dark,” Daphne scowled at no one in particular. 

 

“I believe you, Daphne,” Susan said slowly, “It  _ does  _ match up with what your sister said, and… that’s- that’s horrifying. If we can, we should push for a law that would make marriage contracts illegal,” 

 

“That is one of my goals,” Daphne inclined her head. “Blaise?” 

 

The black boy was staring at the floor. He took a deep breath before saying,  “My mother is a Death Eater. She-she told me once that the Dark Lord ordered her to kill her own brother, and she did it. I don’t want to end up having to do something like that… I couldn’t... and my uncle was a Death Eater too. He screwed up an assignment, but he still got it done on time and perfectly. It was just a tiny little slip,” Blaise was breathing harshly now, “The Dark Lord doesn’t care about the Death Eaters. He doesn’t care about anyone. He just wants power. And I refuse to serve someone like that,” 

 

Hermione was impressed. She honestly hadn’t expected such an impassioned reasoning, since she had seen Zabini talking to Malfoy on numerous occasions. And they had always looked friendly.

 

“And Granger,” Blaise started again, turning to look at Hermione, who startled, “I cannot fight for something I do not believe in- I used to believe in Pureblood superiority, but I don’t, anymore, because of you. I’ve never seen any of our Pureblood classmates grasp spells as quickly as you always do, and honestly, I doubt I ever will,” 

 

Hermione smiled at him, flushing with pride, and Blaise nodded at her, then glanced away to look at Morrigan. She did the same, filled with a sense of empowerment and hope, but those feeling abruptly vanished at the sight of the blond Slytherin, only to be replaced with horror and sadness. Morrigan, whom Hermione had characterized as a girl who was always a bit cocksure of herself, was breathing heavily, eyes wide and tears streaming down her face. Her expression reminded Hermione of the one Harry had worn in the hours after the Third Task.

 

“I can’t,” She gasped, then turned and sprinted out of the room.


	15. Astoria and Neville

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. God. I am so, so sorry! Back in the end of June, my computer completely died on me. I couldn't do anything to save it, and I had to wait until I had enough money to get a new one to start uploading again. Thankfully I had backed everything up to Google Drive just in case, so I didn't lose anything, but I was still unable to post anything until I got a new computer. 
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy this long overdue chapter!

**~Astoria~**

**~Sunday, November 12, 1995, 5:00 pm~**

**~7th floor Corridors, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“Morrigan! Morrigan!” Astoria shouted, racing through the corridors after the girl. She had reacted without thinking, when Morrigan had ran out of the Room of Requirement, and followed her; she hated seeing people upset. 

 

Astoria abruptly halted when she heard a dry-sounding sob from a secluded alcove she had just passed. She quickly backtracked, looking into the corner cautiously, and relaxing a little when she saw dirty blond hair against green-lined robes. 

 

“Leave me alone, Greengrass,” Morrigan muttered harshly, her chest still heaving. 

 

“No,” Astoria replied stubbornly, “You’re upset, and you can’t just bottle it in forever. I want to help,” 

 

“You can’t help,” Morrigan snarled, but didn’t move from the ball she’d curled herself into, “ _ Leave,  _ Greengrass!” 

 

“No,” Astoria repeated, “I don’t know what happened to you, and if you don’t want to tell me, then fine. But whatever it is, I  _ know  _ you want revenge on the Dark Lord or the Death Eaters. This could be our only chance, and you’re blowing it,” 

 

“I can’t,” Morrigan muttered, “I can’t, Astoria,” 

 

“Alright, then you can’t,” Astoria said, more gently, “But you’ve got to come back with me. Or else they won’t trust you,” 

 

Morrigan was completely still for an agonizingly long moment. Then, slowly, she uncurled from her ball, and stood, facing away from Astoria, wiping her face furiously. She turned and walked out of the alcove, back towards the Room, without even glancing at Astoria. That stung a little, but she knew Morrigan had trouble with people in general, so Astoria just jogged a little to keep up with the girl. 

 

When they entered the Room, it wasn’t deathly quiet like Astoria had expected it to be. All the Gryffindors, along with Susan Bones, were softly talking with the Slytherins. 

 

“So, you all don’t trust Dumbledore?” Daphne asked as Astoria and Morrigan approached, “That’s a first, for Gryffindors,” 

 

“We’ve opened our eyes,” Ginny said, “I thought it was honestly suspicious that he hasn’t told Harry much of anything, not even why You-Know-Who was after him in the first place,” 

 

“Well, isn’t it for revenge?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow, “For the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing?” 

 

“He was after me before that,” Harry said lowly. 

 

“Really?” Morrigan asked, sitting down next to Daphne in one fluid motion. She appeared to be completely back to normal, but Astoria could tell she was still rattled. 

 

“Er… yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Harry confirmed, a wary note to his voice. 

 

“Look, I’m sorry for walking out on that,” Morrigan sighed, “I swear, I’ve got nothing to hide from any of you, but I just… I can’t talk about it yet,” 

 

“That’s alright,” Ginny reassured with a small smile, “I know what that feels like. And I don’t think you can fake something like that,” 

 

Harry nodded, and so did Neville and Susan. The corners of Morrigan’s lips turned up. “Thanks. Now, what were you saying about the Dark Lord being after Potter?” 

 

“He was after me before the Killing Curse rebounded,” Harry said, “And… I get dreams, sometimes, and hear what he’s thinking. He called me the ‘Prophecy Child’ in one of them,” 

 

“My Gran is taking Harry and I to the Hall of Prophecy on Friday to go see if there’s a Prophecy with Harry’s name on it,” Neville added. 

 

Astoria frowned. “So all of our future actions depend on what this prophecy says,” 

 

“Yes, exactly,” Hermione said, folding her hands in her lap, “And once we have allies, we can start researching and practicing to defend ourselves. Spying, too. Because at this rate, Dumbledore won’t be telling Harry, or the Order of the Phoenix, any substantial information about Voldemort. If he’s killed before we have that information, there’s a chance it could be destroyed,” 

 

“But how do we spy on Dumbledore?” Daphne asked, “He  _ is  _ one of the most powerful wizards in the world,” 

 

“We haven’t exactly worked that part out yet,” Ron admitted sheepishly. 

 

“Well, I think it’s a decent plan,” Blaise said, “For what you’ve got to work with,” 

 

“Me too,” Astoria spoke up suddenly, then flushed. But no one looked down on her or dismissed her, like she was afraid of. Instead, Hermione just smiled and nodded her thanks, as did Harry. She smiled back, brightly. 

 

Maybe she could finally have real friends. 

 

**~Neville~**

**~Sunday, November 12, 1995, 10:00 pm~**

**~2nd Floor Corridor, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“This is bloody brilliant. Where’d you get it?” Neville asked in awe, gesturing to the map. His eyes were glued on the tiny dot labelled  _ Severus Snape  _ as it moved through the Charms Corridor. Not far away from where they were, Neville noted, a chill slipping down his spine. 

 

“The twins gave it to me, but my dad, Sirius and Professor Lupin made it,” Harry answered, a tiny grin curling his lips. Neville shook his head in awe.  

 

“And the cloak?” Neville fingered the cloth over them. 

 

“My dad’s,” Harry said absent mindedly, “When did your Gran say to meet her?” 

 

“At 11:30, outside the Three Broomsticks,” Neville repeated his Gran’s words. They were approaching a statue of a hunched over witch, and when they reached it, Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the witch’s back with a muttered spell. Neville jumped when the statue’s back shot into the floor, revealing a hole in the middle, with a ladder. 

 

“This leads straight to Honeydukes,” Harry explained, pulling the cloak off their heads. Neville shook his head in awe, and followed Harry down the dark passage. 

 

The journey was spent in relative silence. Awkward silence. Neville realized he barely even knew Harry; sure, there were those three disasters in first year and he had given Harry the Gillyweed during the Triwizard Tournament, but other than that, Neville barely ever interacted with him. 

 

“So… your godfather was finally acquitted, right?” Neville asked, trying to fill the awkward silence. 

 

Harry grinned widely, “Yeah. I might finally get to live with him now,” 

 

“Might?” Neville questioned, picking up on the phrasing in confusion, “I mean, he’s your magical guardian, right?”

 

“Magical guardian? I mean, my aunt’s my guardian, but she’s a muggle,” Harry furrowed his brow.

 

Neville blinked in alarm, “I know. But every muggle-raised wixen has a guardian in the magical world, too, someone who can respond to wizarding problems more easily than muggles can. Usually it’s a Hogwarts professor or a Ministry official from the Child Services office. You’re supposed to meet them before you get to Hogwarts,”

 

Harry was staring at Neville in confusion, “Hagrid showed me around Diagon Alley, but other than him, I didn’t meet anyone from Hogwarts or the Ministry,” 

 

Neville took on a worried expression. “That’s not good. You come from a Pureblood family, and your magical guardian has access to all your assets while you’re underage. You have to know who they are,” 

 

“Assets? What assets?” Harry questioned with wide eyes. Neville felt shock seize him. Who was keeping this from Harry?

 

“Harry, the Potters are one of the most powerful Pureblood families in Britain. More powerful than Malfoy is. And they’re one of the richest, too. You may be a Half-Blood, but you’re the heir to all of it. Your family had guaranteed seats on the Wizengamot, just like mine does. And you’ve got properties and investments being used by other people, which you need to keep track of. Your magical guardian keep track of everything until you’re of age,” Neville said seriously. 

 

Harry’s eyes were wide, with a hard shine to them. He looked deep in thought, his eyes glued to the tunnel floor, and his footsteps turned heavy and measured. A moment later, he looked Neville straight in the eyes. He asked, “Neville, what are the chances that Dumbledore’s my magical guardian?” 

 

“If it’s not your godfather,” Neville said, with almost no hesitation, “Then I’d say it’s guaranteed, with who you are,” 

 

Harry sighed, a sharp edge to it. “Is there anything I can do to change my magical guardian, if it is Dumbledore? Or get any of the stuff about the Potters?” 

 

“I don’t think there’s much you can do about your magical guardian,” Neville confessed, “But you can go to Gringotts to get your family’s information,” 

 

“I’ll do that, then,” Harry nodded firmly, grinning a little in thanks. 

 

\---

“Mr. Potter, a pleasure to meet you,” Augusta Longbottom said as Neville and Harry approached her. She patted Neville on the shoulder, earning a grin from the boy. She looked as she always did- old yet sharp, with her fur-lined green coat, bright red handbag, and over-large stuffed vulture hat.

 

Harry smiled politely at her, briefly shaking the woman’s outstretched hand. “Thank you for this, Ma’am,” he said politely.

 

“No trouble at all, Potter, although it is a little late,” Neville’s Gran replied, “Neville told me of your suspicions. I have questioned a great many things Albus Dumbledore has done over the years, but I must say, if you are correct, this shall surprise me,” 

 

“Er… yeah. I didn’t really expect it myself,” Harry admitted, a little sheepishly. 

 

“Yes, indeed. Have you ever apparated before, Potter?” Gran asked. 

 

“Er, no,” Harry admitted. He looked to Neville for a second, who smiled a little in reassurance, before Harry turned back at Augusta.

 

“You must take my hand,” Augusta explained, stretching both of her hands out for the boys to take, “Apparation is not the most comfortable of experiences, but you must not let go,”

 

“Alright,” Harry said, stepping next to Neville, who was already holding his Gran’s hand, and taking the elderly woman’s free hand. The next moment, Neville felt the familiar sensation of being pulled and squeezed through a tube, and then it abruptly stopped as his feet slammed into the ground. They were standing in hall before the Ministry security checkpoint, just out of the aurors’ view.

 

Harry was panting heavily, his hands on his knees. It took a moment- during which Neville was afraid Harry was going to vomit, his face was so green- before the Boy-Who-Lived had recovered. 

 

“That,” He gasped, “Was the worst thing I have ever done in my entire life,”

 

Neville laughed a little, quietly, and even his Gran let out a short chuckle. Harry grinned. 

 

“Now, Potter,” Augusta said, returning to her brisk tone, “I assume Dumbledore has reformed the Order of the Phoenix,” 

 

“Yeah,” Harry said, though he looked a little uncertain. Neville guessed he had been told not to tell anyone about the Order. He only knew about it because Hermione had filled him in a few day previous.

 

“Well, if this new Order is anything like the last one, there are a few members in the Auror office. Since you do not want this excursion to reach Dumbledore’s ears, I suggest you put this on. It prevent anyone from recognizing you,” Augusta handed Harry a simple platinum ring with an emerald green gem in the center. Neville recognized it immediately. 

 

“Is that Mum’s Charms Mastery project?” He asked incredulously. His Gran was very protective of anything that was important to either of his parents, and even though Harry was a friend, he never would have thought she’d have trusted something of his Mum’s to Harry. 

 

“This is not the one she crafted for herself,” Augusta explained, smiling sadly at Harry, “My daughter-in-law and your mother were best friends, Potter. Alice made this ring for Lily as a gift, to protect her. It wasn’t finished until after Lily and James had gone into hiding, but she intended to give the ring to Lily after… well, after they came out of hiding, but that never happened. I think, Potter, that Alice would have wanted Lily’s child to have this more than she would have wanted me to keep it. Keep it safe,” 

 

Harry’s eyes were wide and wet with tears, but he was obviously trying to prevent them from falling. He turned the ring over in his palm, staring at it for a moment before he slipped it onto his right ring finger. Augusta turned to Neville, and, to his astonishment, presented him with a similar ring, this one with a bright blue gem in the center instead of a green one. Neville stared at his Gran in awe and thanks, and Augusta smiled softly at him; it was an expression Neville had rarely ever seen on the elderly witch’s face. He slipped it on with a tiny, “Thanks, Gran,” escaping his mouth. 

 

“Let us move on, then. The Department should be closing soon,” Augusta said promptly, striding towards the Auror checkpoint. The two boys raced after her as she approached the desk, handing over her wand. 

 

Neville felt Harry stiffen as they stopped next to the old witch. He observed the bubbly-looking auror with hot pink hair carefully; he could tell by Harry’s reaction that she was a member of the Order. 

 

“Hello, Madam Longbottom!” The auror said in a friendly tone, “I’ve got to check your wand and do a scan before I let you through,” 

 

“Of course, Auror Tonks,” Augusta replied, handing over her wand. 

 

“Who are the kids?” Tonks asked interestedly as she performed the spells on the wand. Neville could tell that she was asking for professional reasons, but he was sure that she was genuinely interested in them. 

 

“My brother’s grandchildren. Alfred is off on another one of his ‘expeditions’, as he prefers to call them, and someone needs to look after the children while my niece and her husband are away,” Augusta lied smoothly. 

 

Tonks laughed softly, and handed Augusta’s wand back to her. After confirming Harry and Neville had no wands on them (They had left them in Gryffindor Tower, to prevent anyone recognizing them) Tonks cast the security scan spell on Augusta, clearing her quickly, then performed it on Neville. Neville held his breath, praying his mum’s spell would hold, but trying not to let nerves show on his face. 

 

“You’re clear to go in, kid,” Tonks said an agonizingly long moment later. Neville let out a tiny breath of relief, hoping Tonks wouldn’t notice. A minute later, Neville, his Gran and Harry were heading towards the lifts that would take them to the Department of Mysteries. 

 

“Do you know that Auror?” Neville asked Harry when the lift gates closed behind them. 

 

“Yeah,” Harry said, “Tonks is a member of the Order. She’s great, but if she had recognized me, she’d definitely tell Dumbledore. These rings really work,” 

 

“Well, I’m glad for the foresight I had in bringing them, I must say,” Augusta said, “I would recommend wearing that in public as much as you can. If you wish for someone to recognize you, simply have them spill a single drop of their blood on the gem, and they will be able to see through the enchantment,” 

 

“Great, thanks,” Harry nodded, smiling. A cool woman’s voice stated ‘Department of Mysteries’, and the lift opened to reveal a dark room with foreboding black stone walls and a single desk with a blue-robed young man with thick glasses sitting behind it. 

 

Augusta strode up to the desk, Neville and Harry right behind her. “You are Caiaphas Flemings? Herman’s son?” 

 

“Yes, I am, Ma’am,” The man replied, “May I ask for your name, and purpose in the Department of Mysteries tonight?”

 

“I am Augusta Longbottom,” Neville’s Gran said, “I worked with your father in the Time Turner Regulation and Study Office for many years,” 

 

“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Longbottom. My father has spoken highly of you,” Flemings said, “But I will need to know your purpose here for the records,” 

 

“I was rather hoping we could leave this as an unrecorded visit,” Augusta said firmly.

 

Flemings’ eyes widened. “Ma’am, you of all people should know that I can’t-” 

 

“Potter, take off that ring,” Augusta interrupted sharply. Harry did so immediately. Flemings gasped, his eyes shooting over the Harry’s forehead, and then darting back to Augusta with a confused gleam to them. 

 

“I hope that I can trust you with this matter, Caiaphas,” Neville’s Gran continued sharply, “Else I will be forced to obliviate you. This boy’s life is possibly in danger, due to a prophecy none but Albus Dumbledore know the full contents of. A copy of that prophecy is in this department, as you well know, and the boy has a right to hear it,”

 

“That is true, Madam,” Flemings said nervously, “But still, I must-”

 

“This must stay out of the ears of Albus Dumbledore,” Augusta interrupted again, “He has not told the boy the contents of the prophecy himself, for reasons I cannot imagine, and I do not trust him not to do something drastic if he finds out Potter has heard the prophecy. I have a great respect for your father, Caiaphas, and I do not wish to obliviate you, but I shall if I feel I must,”

 

Flemings looked torn. Finally, after a long moment of complete silence, he said, “Very well, Lady Longbottom. The door to your immediate right will take you to the Hall of Prophecy,” A door suddenly appeared on the wall to Neville’s right. 

 

“Thank you, Unspeakable,” Augusta nodded shortly, then motioned for Neville and Harry to follow her as she strode to the door and opened it. Neville saw Harry slip his ring on as they followed the elderly witch through the many doored room and into a room unlike anything Neville had ever seen before. It was a long hall, with long, shelves that stretched so high Neville couldn’t see the tops. The shelves were all lined with identical glass orbs, similar to but smaller than the crystal balls Trelawney used in Divination class. Neville swore he could hear quiet voices coming from the shelves, but even when he strained his ears, he couldn’t make out what any of them were saying. 

 

“Potter,” Neville’s Gran said sharply, “Hold out your hand and say, ‘I, Harry James Potter, request the prophecies made about my person’,”

 

Harry nervously repeated the words. Neville held his breath. For a long moment, nothing happened, and Neville feared they had come all the way here for nothing. But then, two orbs shot down the line of shelves do quickly Neville was afraid they would slam into Harry’s face. But one just settled in Harry’s palm, and the other floated in front of him for a moment before Harry took it out of the air with his other hand. 

 

“You can take them with you and listen to them when you wish. Just place one in you hand and tell it to repeat the prophecy aloud,” Augusta explained, “Be careful to listen to them in a private place. They will be repeated out loud, and other people will be able to hear them,” 

 

“Alright. Thank you, Lady Longbottom,” Harry said gratefully.

 

As they left the way they came, Harry whispered to the other boy, “I didn’t think there’d be two,” 

 

Neville looked at the other boy in slight concern and replied, “Neither did I,” 


	16. Ginny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the short chapter, but there's some important stuff here. And my thanks to Dawen for your many reviews- I really appreciate it! (I meant to mention this last chapter, but I forgot your name... -.-)

**~Ginny~**

**~Monday, November 13, 1995, 5:00 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“There are  _ two?”  _ Ginny asked in shock. Harry nodded, pulling two glass orbs from his bag. 

 

“I thought there’d only be one!” Ron exclaimed in surprise. 

 

“Yeah, me too,” Harry admitted, “I haven’t listened to them yet, I want you all to hear them with me,” 

 

“You trust us with this?” Daphne asked, eyebrows raised. 

 

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged, “You all have good reasons for being here, and honestly, you haven’t given me a reason to not trust you,” 

 

“But we’re Slytherins,” Morrigan pointed out, “And I… I haven’t given you a reason to trust me,” 

 

“Yes, you have,” Harry said firmly. Ginny noticed that firm set to his mouth that indicated he wouldn’t relent on this matter. “I get what it’s like to go through something you just can’t talk about without getting upset. And I don’t need to know exactly what happened to you to make you turn your back on your parents, to believe that you’ve really done it,” 

 

Morrigan ducked her head for a second. “Thanks, Potter,” 

 

“Let’s hear these prophecies, now,” Susan said, “They’re sure to be interesting,” 

 

“Alright,” Harry nodded. He carefully placed one of the glass balls on top of his bag to cushion it, and held the other out in front of him. Harry closed his eyes, and expression of intense concentration on his face, and suddenly, ghostly letters floated up from the orb.  _ S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D., June 17, 1980.  _ And then, a hauntingly familiar hoarse voice filled the room.

 

_ “ _ _ The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…” _

 

“Damn…” Ginny said as Harry opened his eyes. 

 

“What does it mean?” Ron asked, “I mean, how does it affect us?” 

 

“Well, obviously Voldemort thinks Harry is the child ‘born with the power he knows not’,” Hermione pointed out. 

 

“It does fit, from what we know,” Susan nodded in agreement, “You were born at the end of July, weren’t you, Harry?” 

 

“Yeah,” Harry said, his brow furrowed. 

 

“And maybe by ‘the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal’, it meant the Dark would try to kill Potter?” Blaise observed, frowning, “That’s how you got the scar, which is a mark,” 

 

“Yeah, that sounds right,” Ginny said. She suddenly noticed that Neville, who was sitting next to her, was rigid in his seat. When she chanced a glance at him, she noticed he was extremely pale. “Neville? Are you alright?” 

 

Neville seemed to snap out of whatever world he was in, but he was still pale and his eyes held a dazed look. “Er… I’m-I’m…” He sighed, “It’s j-just… I was born at the end of J-July too, a-and… Gran told me once that M-M-Mum and D-Dad fought off Y-You-K-Know-Who in person, three t-times,” 

 

“Really?” Hermione asked, and then her voice went soft, “Neville… you don’t think…?” 

 

“Yeah, I do,” Neville said weakly, “They were after me, you know?” 

 

“Oh, Neville…” Ginny gasped, catching on. 

 

“I guess it-it’s…” Neville trialed off, sighing and wiping at his eyes as though he were just barely containing tears, “I’m-I’m glad I know, n-now. I thought it was just a-a random attack, b-but now that I know…” He took a deep breath, “It’s l-like closure. Now that I know they sacrificed themselves for a reason,”

 

Susan went up and hugged Neville for a long moment, during which no one spoke. Ginny’s mind was in turmoil. One the one hand, she knew that Harry could defeat You-Know-Who- He was a powerful wizard, even if he didn’t know it, and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself until You-Know-Who was six feet under. But on the other hand, Harry didn’t deserve to have the weight of the entire Wizarding World on his thin shoulders. 

 

“I’m glad it’s you, Harry,” Neville said quietly, sitting straight up, his eyes red but no longer wet. Susan slowly pulled her arms away from him, as he added, “And not me. I could never defeat You-Know-Who, but you could, I know it,”

 

Harry’s face turned red and he ducked his head, mumbling something under his breath that Ginny didn’t catch, but she was sure it was along the lines of ‘I’m not as great as you think I am’. 

 

“You could, Harry,” Ginny said fiercely, and he looked up at her, “Look what you’ve done already- and no, that wasn’t all luck,” She snapped, when Harry opened his mouth, probably to say just that, “It might have been partially luck, but most people wouldn’t have the courage to run blindly in the face of danger just because one or two people might die if they don’t. But you  _ do-  _ and that’s why you’ll defeat V-Voldemort. Because even though most people would be hiding in a hole after going through something like what you are, you’re  _ not.  _ You’re going to make a stand, and you’re going to  _ fight,  _ because you know that’s what’s right. And  _ that’s  _ what’s going to defeat Voldemort- not fancy magic, not some fabled power from a prophecy, but  _ you  _ and  _ your bravery,”  _

 

Harry was staring at her in a kind of shock, as was the rest of the room, save Luna. The Ravenclaw girl was just smiling knowingly, her eyes flickering between Harry and Ginny. 

 

“Er… right,” Harry said awkwardly, refusing to look at Ginny, his face still bright red. 

 

“There are quite a lot of Adeenugs in your head, Harry,” Luna said suddenly, “It’s a shame you can’t feel them- they’re really quite pleasant,”

 

“Er, OK, Luna,” Harry said, his brows scrunching. Hermione snorted quietly. 

 

“What are Adeenugs?” Morrigan asked. “I’ve never heard of them,” 

 

“They’re quite like little bugs,” Luna answered vaguely, “Most people can’t see them, although many thick they have infestations in their head when they really haven’t. It’s quite sad, really,” 

 

Morrigan looked confused and a light skeptical, and all her housemates had similar expressions. All except for Astoria, whose face had suddenly lifted in understanding. 

 

“It really is sad, isn’t it,” Astoria said, smiling at Luna. The Ravenclaw nodded, that vague smile back on her face. 

 

“Anyways,” Hermione interrupted, an annoyed edge to her voice, “The other prophecy, Harry,” 

 

“Right,” Harry said. He pulled the other orb out of his bag, and activated it. 

 

Another set of words, in the exact same style, floated out from the orb. 

 

_??? to No-one, November 1, 1995 _

 

A different, but still very hoarse voice sounded a moment later.  _ “The path of destiny has been altered… He who once had to Vanquish alone, no longer must do so… the one with the power, and the one who was not chosen shall discover the truth… they shall band with others to change the fate of the world forever… and the Light Lord shall fall from from their graces, as his duplicity is discovered… the Dark Lord shall be defeated by the one with the power he knows not… and the world shall tremble in the hands of the Vanquisher and those he trusts most… the path of destiny has been altered, and the fate of the world forever changed…” _

 

“What the bloody hell was that?” Ron said as soon as the voice faded.


	17. Blaise and Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is short. The next chapter will be much longer.

**~Blaise~**

**~Monday, November 13, 1995, 5:30 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“I’m going to have to agree with Weasley on that one,” Blaise said weakly, trying and likely failing to conceal his confusion. None of the others were doing any better, though. 

 

After a moment of silence, Granger said, “Well, this prophecy seems to have almost entirely changed the last prophecy,” 

 

“But Harry still has this ‘power’ to defeat You-Know-Who, in this prophecy,” Bones pointed out. 

 

“But that’s the only thing that’s the same,” Granger said, worrying her bottom lip.

 

“I think we should just forget about the first prophecy,” The Weasley girl said, “I mean, the first thing this one said was  _ ‘The path of destiny has been altered’.  _ Clearly means whatever the other prophecy predicted isn’t going to happen anymore,” 

 

“Certainly not in its entirety,” Daphne said, her face as blank as ever, “But this prophecy maintains that Potter is the one who will defeat the Dark Lord, although in a different way than before,” 

 

“He isn’t alone anymore,” Lovegood said, smiling. 

 

“He damn well won’t be alone again,” the Weasley girl- Ginevra, as Blaise recalled- snapped. Her brother looked fierce and nodded, though there was a sliver of fear in his blue eyes. Blaise didn’t blame him. 

 

“It’s all so confusing,” Morrigan scowled, “I’ve never heard of a bloody ‘Light Lord’ before,”

 

“Neither have I,” Granger huffed- all the Gryffindors in the room had turned to her in hope. 

 

“It’s Dumbledore,” Potter said suddenly. Blaise stared, his brain whirling as an understanding came over him. 

 

“Yeah, it must be,” Longbottom said, nodding, “If there were ever a Light wizard equivalent of You-Know-Who, it’d be Dumbledore,” 

 

“S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D,” Potter muttered, “He knew. Dumbledore knew about the first prophecy, and he never told me,” His voice took on a hurt tone, “This has to be why Voldemort killed my parents, but he never even bothered to  _ mention _ it to me,” 

 

“It fits,” Blaise said almost regretfully, “You’re the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord, and Longbottom is the one who could have had the power, but the Dark Lord didn’t ‘mark’ him- so he’s the ‘one who was not chosen’. You both went to retrieve the prophecies, so you discovered the ‘Light Lord’s duplicity’,” 

 

“Yes, that much is clear,” Granger said, “But the rest…” 

 

“We shouldn’t focus on this,” Weasley said. When everyone stared, he shrugged and said, “We’re not going to figure it out because it’s barely started to bloody happen yet. I say we stick to the original plan,” 

 

“And what is this ‘original plan?’” Daphne asked, arching an eyebrow. Blaise unconsciously leaned forward in his seat. 

 

“We’re going to form something of a defense group,” Granger said, “For people we trust, who can help us win the war and change the ministry for the better,” 

 

Daphne nodded. “That’s what I thought you we doing. Who do you plan on inviting?” 

 

Granger flicked her wand, and a piece of parchment zoomed into her hand. She passed the parchment over to Daphne. Blaise leaned over Daphne shoulder as she read the list. He whistled, impressed at how many names were there.

 

“That’s good,” Daphne nodded, “You can add Theodore Nott to it, and Valentina and Narcissus Arnoni as well,” 

 

Granger nodded and copied the names down. 

 

Bones checked her watch and let out a tiny squeak. “It’s nearly dinner! We better be going, or someone will miss us,”

 

“Right. Hermione’s letters will be delivered tomorrow morning, so we’re all going to meet here at 7 o’clock tomorrow night for the big meeting,” Harry said.  

 

After a general agreement, the group split. As he started towards the Great Hall, Blaise couldn’t help but feel hopeful. 

 

**~Harry~**

**~Tuesday, November 14, 1995, 7:30 am~**

**~The Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

Right on schedule, the owls came pouring down into the Great Hall. Harry watched as Hedwig came in, alongside several owls carrying the blue parchment Harry knew the letters were written on. One of said owls, a haughty looked barn owl, landed next to Dean Thomas as Hedwig landed next to him. 

 

“Er… thanks,” Dean said, taking the parchment. The owl launched itself into the air the moment it was free of the letter. He flicked open the folded parchment, eyebrows rising and eyes widening.

 

“What the bloody hell…?” Dean trailed off. “Seamus, read this,”

 

Seamus looked over from where he’d been piling eggs on his plate. “That’s bloody weird,” He said, “Who the hell sends someone a black piece of parchment?”  

 

“What?” Dean asked confusedly, “No, there’s words there, look!” 

 

“Are you going mad, mate? There’s nothing there!”

Harry smirked a little into his cup as the pair kept arguing. Hermione had spelled all the letters to only be visible to the one it was addressed to. Looking around the hall, the faces of many that had been invited showed equal confusion as they tried to show their friends what appeared, to everyone else, to be a blank parchment. 

 

“Is it strange that I find this kind of funny?” Neville murmured from next to him. 

 

Harry grinned, ducking his head, “Nah, this is bloody brilliant,”


	18. Hermione and Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The last chapter of Oriens. Thank you all, so much, for the support and feedback you've given me.
> 
> The first chapter of Part 2 will be uploaded as soon as I finish the last chapter, which might take a while. Part 2 is going to be significantly longer. I will post a notice to this fic when it's uploaded.

**~Hermione~**

**~Tuesday, November 14, 1995, 7:00 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

Hermione’s hands shook in her lap as the last of the students filed into the large seating area the Room of Requirement had shaped for them. It was similar to the Gryffindor Common Room in appearance, but it was large enough to sit all of them. 

 

“That’s the last of them,” Neville said as he led a fidgety looking 4th year girl- Orla Quirke, Ravenclaw, Hermione’s mind supplied- over to the nearly 50 other students sat on plush couches and chairs. Neville folded the Marauder’s map back up and handed it to Harry, who was sitting next to her. 

 

“Umbridge’s in her office,” Neville continued in a whisper. Harry nodded and handed the parchment back to Neville. 

 

“Keep watching her, make sure she doesn’t leave her office,” Harry said quietly, at Neville’s confused look.

 

“Oi!” Zacharias Smith shouted, “Will you please tell us why the bloody hell you threatened us into coming here!” 

 

“We hardly threatened you,” Ginny snorted. 

 

“You threatened to obliviate us, Weasley!” Smith shouted. 

 

“Only of receiving the letter,” Ginny rolled her eyes. 

 

“That’s not important,” Hermione said loudly as Smith opened his mouth to shout furiously at Ginny. All eyes turned to her. 

 

“Is this about Umbridge?” Tiny Dennis Creevey asked, “Are we going to fight her?” 

 

“That’s part of it-” Hermione broke off, glancing at Harry, who appeared to be frozen. 

 

“This is about V-Voldemort,” Ginny said, her voice only slightly wavering over the name. Harry looked at her in surprise. 

 

“So you all think You-Know-Who’s back?” Zacharias challenged, “Where’s the proof?” 

 

“I saw him,” Harry said angrily, “Everyone seems to forget that Voldemort  _ murdered my parents.  _ And that’s what I’m famous for! Surviving when my Mum and Dad didn’t! You think I want to famous for that? Would  _ you _ want to be famous for that?” Harry took a visible deep breath, “I wish he wasn’t back. I wish Cedric was still here. But Voldemort’s back, and Cedric’s name is disgraced by the Ministry because they’re all cowards who don’t have the guts to face another war,”

 

There was utter silence in the room for several minutes, until- 

 

“He really is back, isn’t he?” Dean asked, but it came out as more of a statement. 

 

“He is,” Harry said, “And the Ministry’s going to get everyone killed, at the rate they’re going- denying he’s back, making our Defense class useless-” 

 

“More useless than it already was, at least,” Angelina muttered. A soft chuckle ran through the room. Hermione cracked a smile. 

 

“Are you going to teach us defense, Harry?” Cho asked.

 

“Yes, that’s part of it,” Harry said, “But there’s more to it than that. Look, I can’t just tell you- it’s all secret, and we can’t risk it getting out- but if you want to  _ do  _ something about Voldemort, and the Ministry, then stay here with us. If you don’t want to get involved, leave now,” 

 

Not a single person moved. 

 

“Good,” Hermione said, “As Harry said, we’re going to be giving you some information that extremely sensitive. So I’ve enchanted this parchment-” She said, pointing to a scroll stretched out on a long coffee table, which already had Hermione’s signature, as well as the others’, “So that anyone who signs it won’t be able to talk to anyone- other than another person who’s signed this parchment- about what goes on in our meetings. They also won’t be able to force the information out of you through Veritaserum, Legilimency, or anything like that. So if you want to join, you have to sign,” 

 

“What exactly will this group be doing?” Ernie MacMillian asked in a slightly imperious tone. He didn’t sound like he was smugly arrogant like Malfoy, which was a relief, but Hermione immediately picked up on his higher-than-average self-worth. 

 

“We’ll be practicing defensive spells, building up our duelling skills,” Ginny explained, perching on the arm the plush chair Neville was sitting in, “And later, we’ll hopefully build up some power to change some things in the Ministry- we’ll fight for Muggleborn and Creature rights, among other things,” 

 

“That’s great and all, Weasley,” Rose Zeller said, “Just one question- what they bloody hell are they doing here?” She pointed at the Slytherins, who had been sitting slightly to the side. 

 

“They’re members too,” Susan said. “They’ve all signed the parchment already. Their house doesn’t matter,”

 

There was an almost mass regard of the four Slytherins, who didn’t fidget under the nearly forty piercing stares. Astoria smiled brightly at them, which seemed to win most over.  

 

“Well, I’m in,” Terry Boot said. He picked up the quill on the table and signed the parchment, “I’m Muggleborn, so I’ll be in the line of fire anyways. Better to fight than to hide,”

 

Fred and George signed next, with a predictable flourish. Then Colin Creevey and his brother, determined expressions on their faces. Soon the entire room had signed. Hermione grinned. 

 

“Will you bloody well tell us the other stuff, then?” Smith said impatiently. 

 

So Hermione told them. Harry pulled out the prophecies and played them again. By the time they were finished, every single one of the new members had a stunned look on their face. 

 

“So basically Harry’s the one who’ll defeat You-Know-Who,” Katie Bell said, furrowing her brow.

 

Hermione sighed. “Yes. But  _ we  _ have to help him, or nothing will truly change,”

 

“Damn,” Dean said, “Are you sure we’re cut out for this? I mean, I’m not backing out,” He hastily added as several turned to glare at him, “But I’m just not sure we can do it,” 

 

“We can,” Harry said firmly, “Just not yet. Think about it this way- Where did all of the greatest wizards start? Here, at Hogwarts. If they become great here, then so can we,” 

 

“Here, here!” Hannah Abbott shouted cheerily.

 

**~Harry~**

**~Tuesday, November 14, 1995, 7:30 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“What do you want us to do, Harry?” Colin asked, excited. 

 

Harry cleared his throat nervously as many pairs of eyes trained on him. “Right, so first we’ll have to build up our defense skills. Shielding is one of the most essential parts of duelling, so that’s what we’ll start with. I want you all to pair off and and take turns; one person will cast an offensive spell- Expelliarmus, Stupefy, whatever, as long as it doesn’t cause physical damage- and the other person will shield,” 

 

The group quickly split off into pairs, and they started casting spells, and shielding with just Protego. Harry frowned for a moment before beginning to walk around, commenting and giving tips to people as he saw room for improvement. He chuckled as he saw Hermione send a quick Expelliarmus at Ron out of the corner of his eye. Ron didn’t manage to cast the shield charm in time, and, as Hermione had been practicing, Ron went flying back into the wall. 

 

“Woah!” Lisa Turpin shouted, grinning at Hermione, “That was Expelliarmus, wasn’t it? I’ve never heard of it doing  _ that  _ before!” 

 

“I wish I’d never heard of it either,” Ron grumbled as he picked himself up from the padded floor. 

 

“Yeah, Hermione, how’d you do that?” Parvati asked. 

 

“I over-powered the spell,” Hermione explained, “Harry’s going to teach you how to do that too,” 

 

“He better!” Lavender exclaimed, “That was incredible,” 

 

“Yeah, it was,” Harry said, “Really well done, Hermione. Ron, make sure you get that shield up faster next time,” 

 

Hermione beamed, and Ron grumbled, but they went back to practicing. Harry called for everyone to stop after they had been practicing for nearly an hour. 

 

“That was really well done, all of you,” Harry said, allowing the panting students to catch their breath. “But do any of you know what the downside to only shielding with Protego?”

 

“Some spells can pass through it,” Anthony Goldstein said.

 

“Exactly,” Harry replied. He had been doing defense research for the last couple of weeks. “Most standard spells used at duelling associations can be blocked by Protego, but Death Eaters won’t be playing fair. The Unforgivables, and loads of other Dark spells, will cut through Protego like it’s butter,”

 

Harry very nearly laughed at all the shocked faces, but refrained and continued, “So, next we’re going to practice defending from those spells. You can use anything you like, so long as you’re  _ not hit,”  _

 

Practice quickly resumed. Harry was astounded at all the different methods he saw. Angelina conjured a brick wall, Ginny shot off a silencing charm, Romilda Vane summoned her hand mirror, which reflected Laura Madley’s spell back at her, Morrigan stunned Blaise before an incantation could leave his mouth, and Dennis Creevey just jumped out of the way.

 

Harry grinned. They weren’t perfect- far from it, actually- but they would get better. They would become great together.

 

“All right, you lot!” Harry shouted as it neared curfew. “ It’s nearly 10 o’clock, so everyone should get back to their common rooms. Great work today, all of you!”

 

Fred and George started clapping. The thunderous sound of all the students filled the Room of Requirement over the next few seconds, and Harry joined in as Colin wolf-whistled. 

 

As the students filed out of the Room, chattering excitedly, Ginny came up and touched Harry’s shoulder lightly. He turned to her, surprised, to find her smiling at him softly. 

 

“You’re a really great teacher, you know,” Ginny said, “I can see that. They all saw that tonight,” 

 

Harry let out a lungful of air. He had unknowingly stopped breathing when he had met Ginny’s eyes. He opened his mouth, to say something his brain hadn’t even thought of yet, but some kind of... feeling was there. He just didn’t know what it was. Ginny arched a single eyebrow at him, and Harry flushed as he realized he had been gaping at her for several seconds, mouth open but nothing coming out. So instead, he mumbled, “Yeah, I hope so,” 

 

“They did, Harry,” Ginny said confidently, her eyes alight in brilliant tawny fire. Harry felt himself get just a little lost in them. 

 

He smiled. “Yeah, maybe they did,”

 

**END PART 1**


	19. Neville and Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo! It's been a while, I know. The sequel's still not finished (I know it's taking a while, I'm sorry), but I was re-reading the first part and I decided that it would flow best as a part of Part 1. So, here it is. I'm still going to update every Tuesday and Thursday, and there'll be a decent number of new chapters.

**~Neville~**

**~Friday, December 19, 1995, 6:00 pm~**

**~Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry~**

 

“Brilliant, Neville!” Harry exclaimed, practically running over to Neville when a white colored mist flew out of his wand and formed into a large vulture, which swooped around his head. Neville nearly dropped his wand in shock. 

 

“Look, Neville’s done it!” Hannah exclaimed. Neville gave her a dazed smile. He couldn’t believe he was the first to produce a corporeal Patronus. They had all been practicing for days, and they all were able to produce the mist, but only Harry could produce the corporeal. 

 

“Well done, Neville,” Hermione said, although her friendly smile had a slightly annoyed edge to it. But Neville knew Hermione well enough now to know that she wasn’t annoyed at him, but irritated with herself for not getting it first. 

 

The rest of that lesson went brilliantly. Neville was able to keep his Patronus out for 10 minutes straight by the end of the lesson, and it was joined by many others by then.

 

“Come on,” Neville heard Ginny mutter to herself.  _ “Expecto Patronum!” _

 

Ginny gasped as for the first time, her Patronus didn’t come out as a mist, but instead started forming into an animal. It was tall and slender, with fragile legs and a bare head. A doe. 

 

There was an audible intake of breath from behind him. Neville turned to see Harry standing there, his face slightly red as he stared at Ginny’s doe, which was trotting in slow circles around the witch; he was sure he’d never seen Ginny smile quite so brightly before. 

 

Harry called the lesson to a close shortly after that. The Patronuses dissipated and students quickly filed out, dispersing immediately. A few weeks ago, there had been an incident where a large number of their group had loitered outside the hall for a while, and they were all nearly caught by Umbridge. Thankfully Umbridge had been talking rather loudly with Filch; they had heard her coming and quickly scattered. If Umbridge had caught them all there, she would have been instantly suspicious, and considering Umbridge already knew  _ something  _ was going on under her nose… Neville didn’t want to think about it. Harry had told him about the Blood Quill Umbridge had subject him to, and the thought of his friends being subjected to that made his blood boil. 

 

But regardless of their almost slips, their ‘study group’ had made great strides in the last month. All of them had achieved things they didn’t think they’d ever be able to do, all thanks to Harry’s unorthodox teaching methods.  

 

“Hey, Harry!” Neville called, racing after Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny as they started to leave the room. 

 

“What’s up, Nev?” Ron asked. Neville had been torn between loving and hating the nickname since Ron had given it to him. He still hadn’t worked out if he liked it or not, but he could certainly tolerate it. 

 

“Gran’s said I could invite you lot to our place for a few days over the Christmas Holiday,” Neville explained. 

 

“Oh! I’d love to go, Neville!” Hermione said. 

 

“If I’m remembering right, you live in an old family manor, don’t you?” Ginny asked. Neville’s face reddened slightly, but he nodded. 

 

Ginny shrugged and grinned, “That’ll be safe enough for Mum, but she’ll still need convincing. She’s been paranoid since the Azkaban breakout,”

 

Neville’s gut clenched as he unwillingly remembered that morning the newspaper arrived bearing news of the Death Eaters’ escape from Azkaban. Imagining his parents’ torturers at large and back with You-Know-Who made bile rise in his throat. 

 

“Sirius wants me home this holiday,” Harry said, smile growing as the words left his mouth, “But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I went around to your place for a day or two,” 

 

“Brilliant,” Neville grinned, then said goodbye and hurried off, intent on finding Luna. 

 

**~Harry~**

**~Saturday, December 20, 1995, 8:00 pm~**

**~The Hogwarts Express~**

 

“This is bloody surreal,” Harry said aloud to no one in particular. 

 

“What is, mate?” Ron asked, looking up from where he was cramming extra sweets into his pockets. 

 

“All of it,” Harry answered, “Going home for the holidays. Leaving Hogwarts, but going  _ home,”  _

 

“You’ll get used to it fast, Harry,” Ron patted Harry on the shoulder, “Living with Sirius… that’d be bloody epic. One of the Marauders? Fred and George would swoon if they knew,” 

 

Harry snorted. “Yeah, they probably would,” 

 

“Make sure I’m there when they figure it out,” Ron said, “I’m bloody serious, Harry. It’d be the most hilarious thing that’s ever happened… if Moody- er, Crouch- hadn’t turned Malfoy into that ferret. Nothing will ever get better than that. But this’ll be bloody close,” 

 

Harry laughed. “Yeah, I don’t reckon anything will top that- even if it was a Death Eater,” 

 

They had a good laugh until Neville appeared at the door, grinning. “Gran and Sirius have got our stuff, Harry. They’re waiting down at the platform,” 

 

“Right,” Harry said, raising his hand towards Ron, “See you later, mate,” 

 

“Yeah,” Ron nodded, “Ginny reckons she can have Mum let us go in two days,” 

 

“You better get down there quick, Ron,” Hermione said, appearing next to Neville, “Your Mum looked... stressed,” 

 

Ron paled and grumbled a little under his breath, no doubt dreading Molly Weasley’s infamous temper. He muttered a goodbye before dashing out to get his stuff. 

 

Hermione turned to Neville. “Your Gran’s just invited my parents and I to your house. My parents agreed; they’re fascinated by magic, and it’s not as if we had anything planned over the holiday anyways,” 

 

“Gran always said the manor was too big for just the two of us,” Neville grinned. 

 

The three quickly exited the train and located Neville’s Gran, Hermione’s parents, and Sirius. The grin Harry had been fighting down since they got on the train broke out and split his face at the sight of his godfather. Harry sped up, leaving Neville and Hermione behind. Sirius turned and saw him, and his face instantly mirrored Harry’s. 

 

Harry collided into Sirius, hugging him hard and trying to contain happy tears. The platform was one of the last places he wanted to be seen crying. 

 

“Whoa there, pup,” Sirius exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Harry, “Merlin, Harry, ease up! I can’t breathe!” 

 

Harry loosened his grip and stepped back, though he didn’t move far. Sirius wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

 

“Are you all ready? I must confess I wish to spend as little time here as possible,” Augusta Longbottom said as Neville and Hermione finally reached them. 

 

“Er, yes quite ready,” Mr. Granger said, still looking around the platform in fascination, “So, do you have a car? We, er, don’t live far from here, so we like to walk-”

 

Augusta barked out a laugh, and shook her head, “No, no,”

 

She pulled a large wooden block from her huge red handbag. The Grangers- save Hermione- looked at it in confusion, but Harry and the others understood instantly. 

 

“Neville, Harry, Hermione, hold on to your luggage. Mr. and Madame Granger, place your finger on the block, and brace yourselves,” 

 

“Call us Jean and Daniel, please,” Mrs. Granger said, visibly confused, but putting her finger on the block. Harry grabbed his luggage and did the same. 

 

“Brace yourselves, all of you! The wards around the manor are not easy to pass through!” Augusta said sharply, “ _ Longbottom Manor! _ ”

 

Harry barely had time to clench his gut before he felt his entire body jerk and stretch. It was a normal portkey ride, like the one Mr. Weasley had them take to the World Cup; until the last few seconds. It felt as though something were tugging on his feet, trying to pull him away, but his finger was stuck to the portkey, making him feel as though his body were about to be torn in half. 

 

They landed roughly. Harry managed to catch himself on his hands and knees as his truck ripped from his hand, the soft carpet below him offering welcomed cushioning against the impact. He didn’t move for several second, trying to catch his breath and stop the bile from rising in his throat. 

 

A hand entered his vision. Sirius’s. Harry allowed his Godfather to pull him up onto his feet. “Rough ride, huh, pup?” 

 

“Yeah,” Harry said breathlessly. He looked to the side, to see Neville, a bit ruffled but otherwise perfectly fine, his grandmother beside him looking perfectly unaffected, and Hermione, winded but on her feet, brushing dust off of her robes. 

 

“What was that?” wheezed Mr. Granger as he clambered to his feet. 

 

“A portkey, Dad,” Hermione said, “An object that teleports anything touching it to a specific destination,”

 

“That’s convenient, if unpleasant,” Mrs. Granger said. 

 

“Less convenient than you would think,” Lady Longbottom harrumphed, “The Merlin-forsaken Ministry restricts everything nowadays,” 

 

“All governments are the same then, even in the magic world,” Mr. Granger snorted and shook his head. 

 

“I imagine they are. But enough of that. Polky!” Augusta said in a sharp voice. A house elf popped into the room, but it wasn’t like any house-elf Harry had ever seen before. Unlike Dobby, Winky, and Kreacher, Polky was dressed almost normally, in a simple plain white dress with a blue strap around the center. Yet she still clearly served the Longbottoms, as the Longbottom house crest- Harry recognized it from the ring Neville always wore- on the strap of her dress. The little elf bowed to Augusta and Neville.

 

“Oh my!” Mrs. Granger jumped in shock, staring at the elf. Her husband was just as wide-eyed, and next to him, his daughter was frowning.    

 

“What is Polky bes doing for Mistress and Young Master?” Polky asked respectfully. 

 

“Please escort Mr. Black and Mr. Potter to the Red Suite, and Miss Granger and her parents to the Blue Suite. They will be remaining here for the next five days. And please inform Binsy to begin making dinner for seven,” Augusta said. It didn’t seem like much of an order to Harry, especially when he compared it to how Lucius Malfoy had treated Dobby. 

 

“Yes, Mistress, of course!” Polky cried, flicking her wrist to levitate all of their luggage. 

 

“Thank you, Polky,” Augusta said calmly. 

 

“Misses and Misters, follow Polky. I is showing yous where yous is staying,” Polky said, and began to walk. Harry and Hermione quickly exchanged glances before following. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think!


	20. Harry and Ginny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys! Thank you for all the reviews! 
> 
> Anyways, here's the next chapter~

**~Harry~**  
**~Sunday, December 21, 1995, 10:00 am~**  
**~Longbottom Manor~**

Settling into Longbottom Manor was surprisingly easy. It was huge and richly decorated, but it was tasteful, not overly ostentatious. Harry and Sirius had been given a two bedroom suite that Harry imagined was nearly as large as the Dursleys’ house would be if it were flattened into only one story. There were two bedrooms that were virtually identical, a large living room, and individual bathrooms attached to each bedroom. It was easily the nicest place Harry had ever stayed before. And, much to Sirius’ joy, the entire suite was decorated in Gryffindor colors.

Hermione and her parents were in a very similar suite, directly across the hall from them. Early that morning, when they had all met in the dining room, Hermione’s parents asked Augusta if they had any magic books, and Augusta told them to call for Polky to direct them to the library. They had quickly vacated the table soon after that, eagerly calling Polky for directions to the library. Harry and Neville had had a hard time hiding their snickers; it was easy to see where Hermione had gotten her book-wormish tendencies.

Harry, Neville and Hermione had gone up to Neville’s rooms after they finished breakfast, at a much more leisurely pace than the two muggles.

“You never said you have house-elves,” Hermione said, a slightly accusing edge to her voice, as soon as Neville shut the door. They were in a living room similar to the one in the Red Suite, but it was clearly larger and much nicer, and done up in the Longbottom colors, royal blue and dark gold instead of red. It also had a desk in the corner, so the room doubled as a study.

“Er… no, I didn’t,” Neville said, a bit sheepishly, then quickly added when Hermione frowned, “But we don’t treat them like other Pureblood families do, Hermione. We treat them with respect, we give them proper clothes and sick leave,”

“Do you pay them?” Hermione asked, the beginnings of a dangerous note in her voice.

“No-” Neville said, “But they don’t want to be paid- Gran asked them all,”

“Because they’ve been-” Hermione began heatedly.

“Hermione, do you know why house-elves bind themselves to wizards?” Neville asked quickly, “The ancient High Elves, the ancestors of modern house-elves, had a civil war thousands of wars ago. As punishment to the rebels- who supported wizards- the High Elf council made their magic unstable, so they would have to bond to a wizard to keep their magic from exploding out and killing them. Wizards asked for service in exchange for the magic drained by bonding. Polky, Binsy, and Twixer consider Gran’s magic stabilizing theirs to be payment enough for their work,”

Hermione’s eyes had gone wide. “Oh,”

“It’s not exactly something they teach at Hogwarts,” Neville shrugged, “I only know because Gran showed me an old book,”

“Why don't they teach it at Hogwarts?” Hermione asked angrily, “It seems like something that's been mostly forgotten, but that kind of information is important!”

“It's supposed to be taught at Hogwarts,” Neville answered dryly, “In History. Gran’s been petitioning forever to give Binns the boot, but no one cares enough,”

“That's rubbish,” Hermione huffed.

“Anyways,” Harry said loudly; although he understood Hermione’s anger, he really wanted to get into more important matters.

“Oh! Right!” Hermione exclaimed, then fished into her pocket to pull out a gold charm. “You know how I had those charmed galleons, a couple of months ago?”

“Yeah?” Harry said, confused, staring at the inconspicuous little charm.

“Well, I was thinking, and- what if someone spent it by accident, or they misplaced it? They'd be cut off from the rest of us. So, I used the same spells on these pendants that I used on the galleons- but these can be attached to a necklace or bracelet, so they would be much harder to lose,” Hermione explained.

“That's brilliant, Hermione,” Harry said, staring at the lightning-bolt shaped charm Hermione pressed into his hand, “But one problem- Won't Umbridge notice if 50 students are all wearing the same charm?”

“But they won't all be the same charm,” Hermione said, pulling a pouch from her pocket. She passed the open pouch to Harry so he could see. “I've gotten a bunch of different ones- the only thing they have in common in that they're all made of Wizard’s Steel,”

Harry grinned. Wizard’s steel was one of three metals wizards used to create artifacts- usually weapons- so that would retain the spells cast on them forever. It was also impossible to break without specialized tools, so there was no risk of anyone breaking or being forcefully separated from their charm; if anyone ever realized what it was, that is. Harry knew from Transfiguration that Wizard’s Steel was famously difficult to identify.

He passed the pouch to Neville.

“I've created a Master charm,” Hermione explained, attaching the lightning bolt pendant to a simple chain and handing it back to Harry, “All you've got to do is tell it what to send and to who- it will etch the message into the back of that person’s charm- yours is the only one that can send messages that will stay etched until you tell it to get rid of your message. The other charms can send things too, but their messages only stay there for a couple of hours,”

“You’re brilliant, Hermione,” Harry said, slipping the chain over his head and tucking the pendant under his shirt.

“You really are,” Neville said, “Can I have this one?” He held up a golden charm with the tiny face of a lion etched onto it.

“Go on, Neville,” Hermione grinned, “We all need one,”

“Brill,” Neville said, taking the chain Hermione handed to him. Harry took the bag of charms and rummaged through it for a moment, before pulling out a charm shaped like lightbulb.

“I think,” he started with a grin, “That since we're all going with charms that suit us, you should have this one, Hermione. Light bulbs do symbolize having a brilliant idea, don't they?”

Hermione blushed and snatched the charm out of his hand. “It doesn’t really matter what they’re shaped like, Harry,”

Harry chuckled and shrugged. “It’s kind of fun, though,”

“Maybe it should matter, though,” Neville said, “I mean, if we say someone’s name into the charm and one of Umbridge’s goons overhears, they’ll know who we’re talking to,”

“So you’re saying we should have code names, or something,” Hermione said, frowning a bit in thought, “It would be practical. I can incorporate a specific code name to each charm. Although, I think I’ll leave the spells identifying the owner’s name- just incase someone forgets a codename in an urgent situation,”

“Right,” Harry said, “So what’ll my codename be? They should be things we can all easily remember,”

“Lightning? Bolt?” Neville suggested.

“Too obvious,” Hermione said, “Zeus? The greek god-king? He symbolizes lightning,”

“That works,” Neville commented.

“I guess,” Harry said, shrugging, “I’m not really a king, but…”

“It’s just symbolism, Harry,” Hermione smiled.

“I dunno…” Harry said sheepishly. Hermione raised one eyebrow. “Fine,”

Harry huffed. “What about yours, Hermione?”

“Hmm… I don’t know,” Hermione said thoughtfully, “What goes with a light bulb?”

“Er… Nothing, really,” Harry said, “Maybe something to do with light? Like… I dunno… Brightness, or something,”

“I’m not being called ‘Brightness’, Harry,” Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry flushed and mentally berated himself for saying something so stupid.

“Well, not ‘Brightness’, but something that’s bright? Like Flash? Or Sun, or Stars? Morning, Evening?” Harry said.

“How about ‘Illum,” Neville suggested, “As in, short for ‘Illuminate’?”

“I like Illum,” Hermione said, nodding, “It’s subtle,” The boys grinned.

“I like that too,” Harry said, his smile stretching across his face.

“Yes!” Hermione grinned, “I’m Illum, you’re Zeus, and Neville’s...”

“Er…” Neville trailed off awkwardly, “I’ve no idea what I should be called,”

“You should be Royal,” Hermione said suddenly, “Lions are often a symbol that represent royalty, and Purebloods are the closest thing the Wizarding World has to royalty,”

“In Britain, at least,” Neville said, shrugging, “Alright, then. I’m Royal,”

**~Ginny~**  
**~Tuesday, December 23, 1995, 2:00 pm~**  
**~Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London~**

“Honestly, Mum, we’ll be fine,” Ginny grumbled as her mother bustled around the kitchen, dusting things that hardly needed to be dusted, since Molly had been cleaning almost non-stop for the past few days. Ginny knew well enough that her Mum cleaned things when she was stressed.

“It’s Longbottom Manor,” Ginny tried again when her Mum just sent her another worried look. “A Pureblood Manor. It’s got to have some of the most secure wards in Britain. And Bill will be with us,” she added, glancing at her eldest brother.  
  
“Oh, but it’s not under the Fidelius Charm…” Molly trailed off worryingly.

Ginny sighed and turned to Bill, who was standing next to her with Ron and the twins. The Weasley Matriarch clearly wasn’t going to stop worrying, no matter what she said. “When does the portkey leave?” She asked.

“Just a few minutes left now,” Bill nodded, “We should probably head out to the courtyard now,”

Molly instantly bustled over to give each of her children firm, lingering hugs, which were so strong Ginny nearly felt as though she couldn’t breathe. When she pulled back, Ginny noticed tears in her eyes.

“Mum, honestly,” Ginny snapped, losing her patience with her mother’s overbearing nature. She did that a lot, recently. “We’ll be fine. Even if Death Eaters could get through the wards, they wouldn’t. Voldemort’s not exactly looking for attention right now, is he?”

After the customary flinch- Ginny was starting to see why Harry found that so annoying- Molly appeared to see the reasoning behind this. She took a deep breath and stood back.

“Alright, Ginny,” she smiled, less worriedly than she had before, thank Merlin, “But be safe. Stay with Bill if you leave the Manor, all of you, and don’t cause any trouble,” She added sternly, looking at the twins, and returning to the Molly Weasley she usually was.

“Course, Mum,” Fred grinned.

“We’d never cause trouble,” George added.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” They said together.

Molly sent them a stern glare, and they snickered, Ginny joining them.

“Sorry, Mum, but we’ve really got to be going,” Bill said, “Portkey’s leaving in less than a minute.

“Yes, yes, alright, go. I’ll see you Christmas morning,” Molly said, shooing them away with a smile. The five siblings hurried outside, gripping their bags tightly. They had only just managed to get into the courtyard and on the portkey before it activated.

“Merlin’s balls!” Ron exclaimed when they landed, “Neville lives here?!”

Ginny fought off the nausea caused by the portkey and opened her eyes to find that they were standing in an ornate hall that subtly boasted its owners’ wealth, but was still elegant and tasteful.

“Yeah,” Ginny snorted, “He’s a Pureblood, Ron, what did you expect?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Ron grumbled, still looking around in awe. “Look there he is!” He added, pointing towards the teen walking into the Hall with Harry and Hermione.

“C’mon, let’s go say hi,” Ginny said, “Bill, you’ll like Neville,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!

**Author's Note:**

> Please Review! Constructive criticism is welcome!


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